Just the Summer
by Annilaia
Summary: Bella Swan has to go to Forks every summer. But the summer before her freshman year in highschool a new family moves to town, and Bella falls in love. How will she fare when the summer ends? Will she ever see him again?
1. Angels

**A/N: Hello all! This is my very first Twilight fanfic. So be gentle. I've had this idea floating around for a bit and couldn't believe that no one else used it yet.**

**And, I'd like to apologize for the probable lack of updates, since this is entirely for fun and I have school, a job, after school junk and friends to deal with too. On with the story!**

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**Chapter One: Angels**

I tried. I honestly tried, so so hard to make them let me stay. I had put my foot down. I was kicking and screaming but I still had to go. I _had _to go. To Forks. I shuddered at the thought of that dreary rainy town.

For every summer since I was old enough to remember Renée had shipped me off to Charlie. I mean, sure, Charlie _was_ my dad and I _did_ love him, just that town, ugh! There was nothing for me to do besides watch him and his friends fish, and occasionally play with the two Quileute girls there. I guess that shows how much I disliked it. I couldn't even remember their names.

I felt a little guilty. After all, they were nice enough to even let me play with them. If I see them this time, I'll be sure to remember.

We reached the airport, and I reluctantly gave mom and her new boyfriend a hug goodbye. I stared at the airport as the plane started to take off, clawing pathetically at the window as if, somehow, I'd be able to get out.

Charlie came to pick me up when the plane had landed. I smiled when I saw him, and rushed to give him a hug. Maybe this summer wouldn't be so bad? I did miss him and on the drive back to Forks he asked me a load of questions, ones I answered without getting annoyed.

"Well Bells, here we are!" he said proudly when we pulled into his driveway. I sighed lowly, hoping he hadn't heard and climbed out of the car.

The house was the same as it had been last summer, and every single year before. Tiny, badly decorated, and there were pictures of me everywhere. I dragged my suitcase up the stairs and started to unpack my clothes into my dresser. I heard Charlie climb over the stairs and head towards my room.

"Hey Bells," he called.

"Yeah Ch—Dad?" I replied. I shuddered. I would need to get used to calling him Dad, again.

"Uh, Bells, you know that today is the fourth of July, right?" I nodded. "Tonight there're going to be fireworks at the park. I was wondering if you wanted to go down with me?" It seemed so hard for him to be asking me this, and it looked awkward too. "Maybe this summer you could meet some of the kids from town."

I smiled, faking enthusiasm. "Sure Dad, I'd love to go." He left my room smiling and as soon as he was out of hearing range I let out a groan before falling backwards onto my bed. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the hazy grey sky. It made me sleepy thinking about how there'd hardly be any sun this summer. Before I'd known it I'd fallen asleep.

"Bella!" Charlie called from the bottom of the staircase. "Get up! We have to go soon!" I jumped out of bed, stumbling on my empty suitcase but catching myself on the dresser. I pulled off my tank top and pulled on a new blue sweater. I jumped down the stairs two at a time and pulled on my sneakers, snatching another black sweater and sprinting out the door.

The ground was wet from a light rainfall while I had been asleep, and I could see it was starting to get dark out. I slipped on the grass as I bounded over the lawn, cringing at the police cruiser in the driveway. I slipped into the passenger's seat and Charlie pulled out.

"Had enough beauty sleep?" he asked me jokingly. I glared at him. That would probably be the only thing I'd do all summer. Sleeping and glaring. And complaining about rain. I let out a small sigh.

"Something wrong Bells?" he asked me again. I turned to look at him. He was concentrating on the road, but looked anxious and worried.

"Nothing Dad, just worried about trying to make new friends…" that was only the half of it. I really did not want to be here, fireworks weren't going to make it any better. Especially fireworks on a wet night.

We arrived at the park well before any of the other people had arrived. I guess that was because Charlie _was_ chief of police after all, but there were only adults around. So much for the 14 year old making friends…

I wandered around the park, small souvenir stands were setting up and I could see Charlie waving from farther down the field, where the fireworks would be set off. I sat on a swing set, clutching the chains for dear life. I kicked aimlessly at the dirt below me and swung slightly back and forth.

Finally, more people arrived. Charlie came up to me with two adults and a boy my age in tow.

"Bella," Charlie said, making it sound like an introduction. "These are the Newton's and their son, Mike." I smiled at them and said hi, hoping it sounded like I was pleased to meet them.

The boy, Mike, was staring at me. It started to feel awkward and I frowned. _I'm nothing special to stare at_, I thought. Charlie and the Newtons were deep into a discussion about fireworks. Mike finally popped out of his reverie, snapping his eyes to mine. I smiled awkwardly and felt my face flush.

"So, Bella, you're Chief Swan's daughter?" he asked nervously. I nodded. "How long are you here for?"

"Only the summer. I've been coming here every summer. I'm usually down at La Push though…" Recognition flashed across Mike's face.

"Me and my friend's hang out at the First Beach a lot this time of year, you should come with us sometime! If… you want, that is…" He blushed and seemed fascinated with staring at a watch that wasn't there.

"Its quarter to nine," I said, trying to sound funny.

"What?" he asked stupidly. I rolled my eyes and sighed, continuing to stare at my shoelace while Mike said something or another…

"Oh look, Carlisle must be here to help out!" Charlie said, snapping me back to reality.

"Who're they Dad?" I asked, desperately trying to break away from Mike's blabbing.

Charlie turned to look at me smiling. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme. They came here a couple of months ago," Charlie began to explain. I could see a large group of people walking towards us through the field. "Carlisle is a new doctor here, one of the best we've seen in years."

The Newton's seemed to agree with him whole-heartedly. "And so kind too!" Mrs. Newton began. "I mean, adopting all those children. _Hardly_ children at that. They're around your age, Bella."

"They adopted them?" I asked. Charlie nodded.

"Edward, Emmett and Alice Cullen were all brothers and sister, their parents died. The same thing for Jasper and Rosalie Hale. The Cullens were nice enough to bring them in." Mike snorted. The figures were getting closer. "They're a bit weird if you ask me," he whispered. _I'm not, be quiet._ "I mean Emmett and Rosalie, they're adoptive brother and sister, but they're _dating!_ Same for Jasper and Alice too." I nodded. That was a bit unusual, but so what? Maybe they were in real love…

I could now see the figures clearly and my heart nearly stopped. In the lead I was assuming were Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle was _beautiful_, with amazing blonde hair and golden eyes. Esme had wavy caramel hair and was amazingly attractive. Behind them were two girls talking quietly to each other, giggling every now and then. One was a short, pixie-faced girl, with spiky black hair. She was beautiful and seemed to be dancing rather than walking. The girl next to her must have just arrived straight off a runway. Her golden locks reached down to her lower back and she seemed like the kind of person who commanded the attention of every room she walked into.

The two boys behind them were equally breathtaking. The first I noticed was _big_. He was covered in large muscles and splashed on top of his handsome face was a mop of dark curls. But it was the boy next to him that made my breath catch in my throat. He was walking perfectly. Not slipping on the damp grass or having to watch where he was going. He had untidy bronze hair and the most _amazing _golden eyes. His face was pale, paler than my own and flawless. He was _gorgeous._

"Hey Chief Swan!" the pixie girl called with a wave. "Jasper couldn't make it to help; he was feeling kind of sick." Charlie smiled and nodded.

"Good to see you again Carlisle," I heard my father say to the blonde one.

"We thought we'd help out around before the show started," the doctor told my dad with a breathtaking smile. Charlie nodded and smiled.

"Any help is welcome!" he exclaimed with a laugh. All of the kids smiled at my dad, I found myself smiling where normally I'd be rolling my eyes. "Oh!" Charlie suddenly said, as if he'd forgotten something amazingly important. "I need to introduce you all." My stomach fell down to my toes, and my face dropped. Oh. God. No.

"This," Charlie said, turning a hand towards me, "Is my daughter Isabella, Bella preferably." I felt my cheeks growing hot and I stoop up, slipping a bit on the grass as I went to stand next to my father. Carlisle and Esme approached me and smiled warmly. Carlisle shook my hand and nodded.

"Very pleased to meet you Bella," he said in a melodious voice. Esme came up and hugged me gently, smiling as though she were my own proud mother. They stood to the side and the black haired pixie danced up to me, shaking my hand and giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I felt my eyes widen and knew I had a horrendously shocked expression stamped across my features.

"I'm Alice!" she said cheerfully. "I hope we can become friends this summer!" The girl who I assumed to be Rosalie looked at me without even cracking a smile, nodded and went to stand next to her sister.

The big muscular one came up then. "Nice meeting you Bella," he began in a deep voice. "I'm Emmett Cullen." I nodded and smiled and it was then that I saw him.

He had been staring at me the entire time, and I had been finding it hard to not look at him. He looked at me with his mouth hanging open very slightly, almost unnoticeable. He had such a gentle expression on his face that I knew immediately I was going to blush. And then I did. I saw an amazing crooked smile spread across his mouth and he walked up to me.

"Hello Bella," he said gently. His voice _was_ music to my ears. "I'm Edward Cullen. I'm _very_ pleased to meet you." He took my hand and swiftly planted a kiss on it, causing my cheeks to change to a more violent shade of red. I watched him, just as he stared at me as he took his place next to his family. I only stopped when Charlie cleared his throat.

To be truthful I was a little angry that I couldn't keep staring at him for a while. "Well kids, I'm sure that there are some food stands and whatnot that need some help attending to. Since you all are the first here, would it be terrible of me to ask you guys to help out?" All of the Cullens smiled and replied with a 'No, they'd be happy to help.' Charlie gave me a look like he was asking me then. I smiled and nodded. Of course I'd help. It was better than sitting around for another while.

Everyone seemed to be moving away, searching for a job to do. Great. Not only have I no clue who _anyone_ is in this town, I now have to find some sort of job to do by myself. I sighed, looked down to my feet and turned around. I was immediately bombarded by a pair of honey coloured eyes.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed happily.

"H-Hello Alice," I mumbled nervously. She grabbed my hand and started to drag me off in the direction of the stalls.

"How about me and you and Edward go help out at the food stand!" she said happily. I nodded and turned around. Edward was right there behind me, flashing me his crooked grin and staring at me with those golden eyes.

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A/N:**

**Smexcellent. I have finished the first chapter! I'd like to apologize once again as I have to completely write these up from scratch and there's no telling when writers block will strike. There were so many parts I wanted to stop the chapter and leave a cliffhanger, but I thought that'd be mean. I really like lon gchapters so i thin kthis is okay for now. Originally I was going to sto pat "Oh look. Carlisle's coming to help" ahaha... **

**Also, I don't know what you guys do in America for the fourth of July .I just know this is what we do here, and we have another celebration for the town. So like, we'd have Canada day on the first of july and around the end of july its Clarenville day:D haha. Im a dork. Review!**

**Review! Review, review…**


	2. Fireworks

**A/N: Yay it's the second chapter! XD. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it really made me want to keep writing. Thanks for comments about my style and the story too, I'm glad it's interesting to someone besides me. :3.**

**To answer a few questions:**

**.sTrAwBeRrY.vEnOm. : Yeah, Bella is going to fall in love with Edward haha. NO matter how many bad craps I throw at them, I could never EVER split them up. They're far too cute.**

**ithiki : Edward is really attracted to Bella's scent, and it'll become and little bit more obvious as I go. I'm just a sappy romantic and I'm trying to find a way to skip that part so that I can go straight into fluff. I'm also trying to find a way to explain vampires and everything quickly, but since everyone knows about that, seeing as how they read Twilight it might be like "Edward explained everything to me blah blahty blah blah…"**

**Yeah, the Cullens are pretty antisocial, but being a new family in a new town I guess they wanted to make a better impression. Get to know the locals even if it doesn't matter. Plus, Alice probably had a vision :P**

**So, let's get this show on the road!**

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Chapter Two: Fireworks **

Alice dragged me across the park. Her enthusiasm scared me a bit. I wanted so badly to turn around and make sure that her brother was still behind us. I wanted to know more about him, be his friend. I wanted to become friends with all of them. Being alone in this small place for two months would be terrible if I only had Charlie…

"Let's go to this one!" Alice exclaimed pointing at a stand decorated with cartoonish pictures of generic fair-day foods. I tried to look fascinated with a blade of grass while she talked to the owner of the stand, explaining she was there to help. Shyly, I stole glances up at Edward, only to find him staring at me. I blushed deeply and shot my eyes down.

Edward visibly stiffened and turned away. When I looked at him again he seemed like a statue, perfectly carved with a gorgeous face. He seemed to barely breathe. I blushed again slightly and returned to my piece of grass. Alice suddenly grabbed me and dragged me around the back of the stall, pushing me through a small door where I found myself standing behind the brightly lit counter, staring out at the park grounds.

"Hello Edward!" Alice said cheerfully. "Care for anything to drink?!" Edward looked up, surprised to see us standing there. He smirked and rolled his eyes at her before walking to the back of the stall. I turned around and saw him coming in behind us. I smiled nervously at him, hoping he'd show that he knew I was with them.

He looked up and saw me and a beautifully crooked smile spread across his lips. I smiled even wider and blushed, looking down as I struggled to tie the red striped apron around my waist.

I saw Edward approach me and reach out for the ties at my back. He gave me a look as though he were asking permission. My expression was blank as I stared into his golden eyes, I could only nod. I squealed inside my head and bit my lip to keep from making it audible. He was so close to me! I almost started bouncing on the balls of my feet with joy.

I felt him tie the apron into a secure bow and then move in front of me, smiling. "There you go," he said gently. "Now you haven't got to worry about it." I grinned and nodded again. He had left me speechless, just by looking at me.

"Thank you," I said quietly. I heard him chuckle softly and reach for an apron himself. I leant against the shiny clean counter, staring at the group of people who were playing music in the grass, the small band setting up for a performance, the games for young kids to play. I rested my head in my hand and felt my eyes drooping slightly when I saw Mike and a group of people heading towards us.

"Hey Bella!" he called happily. I jumped up straight, trying to look busy.

"Hey Mike," I said, trying to sound happy to see him. "Do you want anything?"

He shook his head and smiled widely. "Naw, I just wanted to bring my friends to meet you." He pointed to all of the people behind him. "These are Jessica, Lauren, Angela, Tyler, Ben and Erik." I either nodded at each one, raised a hand or said a half hearted greeting. They all told me it was nice to meet me, they hoped we could all be friends.

Jessica looked up at me sheepishly before saying: "Can I have some popcorn?" I laughed out loud at that. After everyone had been holding back and tried to make me feel welcome, she still wanted food.

"I was wondering when someone would ask that," I said between my giggles. I took her money and gave her the change. When I turned around to grab her popcorn I tripped on my lace and started to fall. I braced myself for the impact, squeezing my eyes shut. But I never. I felt a set of cold arms grab me and pull me up straight, then, suddenly they weren't there.

I looked up, and knew shock was plastered over my face. My stomach jumped into my stomach when I saw Edward standing there, his hands in his pockets leaning against the counter, his crooked grin in place again.

"Maybe we should take care of the food," he said softly, suppressing a laugh. Alice appeared at the counter with the popcorn in her hand. I blushed from embarrassment and went back to the cash.

We had decided that it would be better if I took care of the money, leaving Edward and Alice to prepare food and bring it to me.

"Hi Edward," Lauren and Jessica said when they saw him hand them their food. I could tell they were trying to flirt with him, but he ignored them and kept glancing at me. _Get a hold of yourself!_ I kept thinking. _He can't be just looking at you. I mean, it's only you and Alice here…_

I glanced over at him, at his beautiful face only to find it looking my way again. He grinned and looked down at his work, but glancing up again out of the corner of his eye and smiling wider. I laughed slightly and looked away. _Still, it would be nice if he was._

A couple of hours passed. Music was blasting, kids were crying, people were making out every where you turned, and I was stuck behind the food stand, freezing cold. I pulled on my black sweater and zipped it up all the way. I pulled the sleeves over my hands and pushed up my shoulders, trying to keep every inch of me warm. Edward looked over at me concernedly.

"Are you cold?" he asked. His expression was worried and he moved towards me nervously.

"Ah, no," I tried to say, but I barely stammered it out. "I'm fine really. Well, in a minute I will be." But, while I spoke he was shaking out of his jacket and pushed it to me.

"Take it," he said smiling. "I'm fine, you on the other hand might catch a cold, being from Phoenix and all." I blushed and took his jacket, pulling it on. It was cold, and smelt gloriously of him. I couldn't tell what kind of cologne it was, just that I knew I'd be trying to steal a few more sniffs of it before the night was over. Great, now I'm starting to sound like an addict.

The sky grew darker and darker until finally the man who owned the stand came back, telling Alice that we could close it down as the fireworks were getting ready to start. I hung up my apron, glad to have the hideous thing off and passed Edward back his jacket. He looked a bit surprised and confused.

"No you keep it, I'll get it later before we leave." I smiled and blushed slightly. He grinned. "It's a lot colder out here than it was in that stall." I laughed and noticed that I could almost see my breath.

"Yeah I guess you're right, thank you."

"No problem," he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking next to me on the way to the viewing field.

The entire town must have been there, there was quite the crowd. Emmett and Rosalie met up with us on our way there.

"How was it guys?" Alice asked, walking next to her sister.

"Just great," Rosalie said sarcastically. "We got to supervise the bouncy castle." I heard Edward snort, suppressing a laugh and Emmett shot him a deadly glare. I looked from one brother to the next.

"Why don't you try it next time, Edward," Emmett hissed. Edward grinned but didn't look at his brother.

"Maybe I will." Emmett scoffed and jogged ahead slightly to grab Rosalie's hand.

The three of them were ahead of us, just me and Edward behind them. I suddenly felt very self conscious around this beautiful boy. I fiddled with my hair and straightened out my shirts underneath his big coat.

"Do you want to watch the fireworks from over there?" he asked, pointing to a clearing close to where they would be fired from. No one was near the place.

I looked up at him only to find him staring down at me smiling his wonderfully crooked smile. "Sure," I said softly, mesmerized by his face. He stepped ahead of me down the tiny embankment, looking back occasionally to make sure I was still behind him. I was very careful not to slip on the damp grass. If I did it probably would've made me slide into him and knock _him_ over, something I really didn't want to do to one of my first new friends on my first night here.

I made eye contact with Charlie where he stood next to the fireworks. He smiled and waved to me. I tried to wave back but the sudden movement caused me to loose my concentration. I slipped backwards and fell hard on my bottom to the ground. Edward turned around quickly, his eyes widened with surprise. I could see the corners of his mouth twitching and knew he was trying to hold back from breaking down with laugher.

I sighed. "You can laugh if you want to; this isn't anything new for me." He laughed a little bit, but smiled big.

"I'm sorry," he struggled to say. "I really shouldn't laugh, that probably hurt. Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I muttered. Edward sat down next to me on the grass, waving at Charlie. Charlie hesitated from coming over, then decided not to. Lucky for me, I could stay here alone with Mr. Cullen.

"What are you glaring at?" he asked me softly. I realized I had been sitting, hugging my knees and staring angrily into the woods.

"Oh, nothing," I began. "I'm just staring at the woods. They're really green." He laughed and smiled, leaning back on his elbow.

"That's usually the way they are," he whispered like it was a secret.

"Really? Because the ones in Phoenix are purple!" I hoped I'd sounded sarcastic. Otherwise I was just rude. He chuckled again.

"Then why are you here," he asked, staring at me with curious eyes. "Why aren't you in Phoenix? Where the trees are purple and the sun actually shines."

I turned away from him, staring back out into the trees. Only staring less angrily. "My parents divorced when I was very, very young and mom moved away. So, if I never came here for the summer, then I'd never know I had a Dad. Charlie loves seeing me too. I'm just glad I don't have to live here all the time. That would drive me crazy."

I looked back at him, he was staring into my eyes and slightly frowning. His own eyes seemed sad, not nearly as cheerful as they had been when my amazing acrobatics brought me to the ground. I smiled at him nervously and tried to think of anything to say.

"It's a bit better now though," it was the only thing I could say. "I've actually got some friends now." His face lightened and he nodded. It was true. Even if it was the only thing I could have said, I really meant. I now had Edward and his family to look forward to with every grey morning. Mike and the others were there too, but they just didn't appeal to me as much as the Cullen's.

"I think they're starting now," Edward said softly. I turned and saw Charlie trying to light the end of one of the fireworks. Before Edward could say anything else I flung myself onto my back, staring up at the black sky.

"What are you doing?" he asked. His voice sounded surprised and I giggled.

"Just lie back, it makes the fireworks seem better." He lay down next to me and we heard a loud pop. The brightly coloured sparks burst to life in front of us, sending wonderful shapes flying through the sky. I squealed and pulled my fists to my face.

I saw Edward looking at me from the corner of my eye. "Doesn't it feel like they're going to fall on you?" I asked. My voice was excited and I couldn't help it. Watching fireworks this way always affected me like this, and lying next to Edward Cullen wasn't helping.

He stayed there with me, watching the fireworks and me; acting like it was the apocalypse. I could catch glimpses of him every now and then, staring at me and smiling. The colours of the lights in the sky making his face even more alluring than before.

He took my hand to help me up once the show was over. I took his hand and he pulled up quickly and easily. I'd almost jumped when I felt his hand. It was so strong and so _cold._ _Maybe I should give him back his jacket_, I thought when we were walking towards Charlie. I moved the collar of his jacket higher up, to smell in his strange cologne again.

"Hey Bells," Charlie said happily. "How was the show?" I smiled, actually happy about being in Forks.

"It was great Dad, you did an awesome job," I saw Charlie blush. I guess hearing that from me must've meant a lot. "When are we going home?"

Charlie looked up at me with an expression on like he'd remembered something he had to do days ago. "I'm sorry Bella, I've got to stick around here and clean up. You can walk home if you'd like. It's not too far away." I nodded. It would be nice to walk home in the cool air. It would refresh me and give me a chance to think of what I'd do the rest of the summer.

"Nonsense," I heard Edward say. I turned to look at him. He smiled down at me and then looked to Charlie. "I can walk her home for you. She shouldn't have to walk home so late at night." Charlie hesitated. He seemed to be struggling for words.

"Thank you very much Edward," he said, smiling from ear to ear. He clapped a hand on Edwards shoulder. "You're a good kid." Edward smiled and nodded.

"Come on, Bella," he called and I obediently walked up next to him.

We walked in silence most of the way. I tried to memorize where we were going to get a better understanding of Forks. Edward would ask me questions often, and I came up with one for him occasionally.

I found that I had been smiling most of the time, and laughing. It was a good feeling, and one completely new for me to have in this town. I could only guess it's because I was with Edward. He was an amazing person, aside from the abundance of good looks. He was making me feel so happy about being here and every time he smiled down to me my heart did fifteen flip-flops in two quick seconds.

I had blushed more tonight than I had in my entire life, and it was all because he was here. We had gotten to my house within a few minutes, and I saw that the porch light was left on. Thank God, now I wouldn't have to embarrass myself with struggling over the dark steps.

"Thank you for walking me home Edward," I said, turning to him and pulling out of his jacket. "It was really nice of you to be with me on my first night here." He smiled at me warmly and took his jacket when I passed it to him.

"My pleasure," he said. "Thanks for having me." I blushed when I smiled and he chuckled again. "Maybe I can see you some more over the summer," he said, and he seemed like he was hoping I'd take the hint. I did. I wanted him around.

I felt my smile stretch from ear to ear and I nodded. "I'd like that a lot, Edward. Good night."

"Sweet dreams Bella," he whispered and turned to walk down the road. I watched him and he turned and walked backwards, staring at me. I laughed and ran up to my steps, thankful I hadn't tripped.

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A/N: There she is folks. Chapter 2. I honestly didn't think I was going to get it up, and it would've been up last night but the internet stopped working like EVERYWHERE!!!!! Gah. So I'll start working on chapter three today. **

**Remember, reviews make me update faster :D**

**Review!**


	3. Falling

**A/N: Hello again! This is Annilaia ( my penname is a name I've had for characters since I was 12 and I've yet to make a good story with that name in it.) to bring you chapter THREE of Just the Summer. This one, I like… especially the beginning **

**To clear up something for ALittleTooAddicted : I read somewhere, I can't remember if It was Edward saying it or Stephenie Meyer, but probably Edward. He told Bella that he can pull off looking ages 15- 20 something. And In Twilight the Cullen's have been living in Forks since Edward and Alice's freshman year. So, those are the ages everyone knows them as **

**Disclaimer: This goes for all chapters that I have forgotten to and will forget to put a disclaimer on: I disclaim Twilight. **

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Chapter Three: Falling**

I woke up for the second time the next morning at 10:30. The first time Charlie had woken me up to tell me he was going fishing, and was going to let me sleep all day since I was probably tired from the trip and from last night.

I forced myself out of bed, my hair sticking out from all angles, and stumbled down the stairs. My eyes were only half open as I moved through the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal, and sitting at the counter, staring at the newspaper without taking any of it in.

All I could hear was the crunch of my cornflakes.

Then there was a knock at the door. _One of Charlie's friends_, I thought. I forced myself up and hobbled across the linoleum, it was so cold against my bare feet. I opened the door and immediately shut it again, right in the face of the boy on the other side.

_Edward._

"Bella?" he called. I could hear the confusion in his voice. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Edward!" I screeched. I was horrified. He was standing on the other side of my front door, as pretty as can be, while I'm only other side wearing my dads old "The Doors" T-shirt, my hair flying off in every direction and my old pink pajama pants barely reaching my knees. "What are you doing here?!"

"Bella!?" he called again. "I told you I wanted to be with you this summer. It's still summer and I want to take you out." My heart stopped for a second.

"Why didn't you give me any advanced notice?" I called.

"I wanted to surprise you!" he replied. "What's the problem in that?!"

"I'm in my pajamas!" I yelled again. "I just woke up!"

"Bella!" he called, I could tell he was trying not to laugh. I could hear the smile on his voice. "Bella?" he tried again, trying to sound sad. I was certain if I was looking at him he would have been giving me puppy dog eyes. There was a pause, an awkward silence. "They're really pretty pajamas," he tried. I snorted and whirled around, pulling the door open. I looked at him incredulously, one eyebrow raised and my hands on my hips. I tried to act angry with him, but he just flashed his crooked smile as soon as he saw my face.

I sighed. "Come on in," I muttered, motioning for him to enter. He walked down to the living room and sat down in the chair I usually saw Charlie in. It was strange having him there, his presence lit up the entire room. I stood leaning against the door jamb, staring at him for a while until he looked up to me.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" he asked. I stood upright and bolted over the stairs, shutting my door a little too loudly behind me. I quickly pulled on a blue T-shirt and a light brown tweed bolero jacket over it. It was an outfit Renée had bought me as a present for getting through middle school. I was jumping into my jeans as I rushed down the hall, doing them up quickly while jumping over the stairs. I slid into view in front of Edward who looked at me with wide eyes.

"I'm ready!" I declared. "What do you want to do today?" He stood up, giving me the once over. I found myself blushing again. I decided to do the same to him. He was wearing a green T-shirt with a high collar that clung magnificently to his body. On his lower half were dark jeans with light stitching and he wore brown sneakers.

He snapped back to reality and I, very happily, went back to staring at his face. "You look beautiful," he said softly. This took me by surprised. My eyes widened in shock and I blushed somewhere near the same shade as a fire truck.

"T-thank you!" I stammered, staring at my feet. He grinned and motioned for me to head for the door.

"Let's go for a walk," he said it bluntly, without asking. I nodded and hurriedly scrawled a note for Charlie. I picked up my blue and white purse, another thing that Renée and bought for me, and pulled on my old black high top converse, my favourite shoes. Edward smiled as I shoved my keys and wallet into the purse, skipping out of the door and down over the steps while he locked it behind him.

"Where are we going to walk to?" I asked curiously. The only thing I knew about this guy was that he was beautiful and was controlling where I would be going today.

"Um, I was thinking about going to my house," he began. His bronze hair was being tossed around in the breeze, flicking in front of his eyes, and I suddenly became very aware of how good he smelt. "Alice really wanted to see you again." I smiled at that thought. I really liked Alice.

He asked me loads of questions again as we walked, and I answered them quickly. Some of them were trivial things like my favourite colour and favourite band, and some required a bit more thought, like what I thought about Phil, mom's new fiancé.

When I finally tore my eyes away from Edward I realized we were on a street I had never been on in all of summers of living in Forks. The road was lined with thick woods on each side of us. I noticed that the sun was pathetically trying to break free from the evil grey clouds, but failing miserably.

Edward slowed down and let me walk ahead of him onto a dirt road that, if I hadn't been paying attention, I would've gone past. When we broke out of the woods my breath caught in my throat. There was a huge lawn, of beautiful green grass shaded completely by six primordial cedars. They created a shadow all the way up to the great white house with a wrap around porch.

I looked up at Edward, my mouth hanging open. He grinned and laughed. "Do you like?" he asked. I nodded, turning back to the house we were walking towards. I saw Alice jump down from the porch and start running very fast towards me.

"Bella!" she screamed when she jumped on me, taking my hands and jumping up and down. "I'm so glad you came! We just _have_ to go to Port Angeles today! We can go shopping and then tonight we can go to a movie! Oh, hey I _love_ your purse!" She said it all so fast and in one breath that when she finished she took in a deep breath, sighed and smiled, pleased with herself.

I smiled hesitantly, not completely sure of everything she had said. "Okay," I murmured finally. She squealed with her teeth clenched shut and ran back up to the house. Edward and I continued to walk up to the porch. I was just about to think about how proud I was with myself, not falling once the entire time we were walking (since I hadn't really been paying attention to where we were going). But, me being the person I am, caught my toe in the step while climbing onto the porch and immediately braced myself for impact.

I felt two strong arms grab my waist and lift me up onto the porch quickly. I opened my eyes to see Edward smiling down at me, his cool hands still on my waist. He quickly removed them and opened the door for me.

"You're lucky I'm around to catch you," he said with a chuckle. I blushed and smiled.

"I am; if it weren't for you I'd probably have a squashed nose by now." He laughed again as we went inside. The interior was just as impressive as the exterior. There was white all around in this living room, a black piano sitting on a platform nearby and a great curving staircase.

Alice came bounding over the stairs, Emmett, Rosalie and a boy who I was guessing was Jasper, were all trailing behind her. "Emmett's going to drive us out there!" she said excitedly. "Let's go!" she repeated this over and over again while we were rushing out of the house and into Emmett's very large jeep.

He drove like a maniac. I was squashed between Edward and Alice, Jasper on the other side of her, while Rosalie sat up front with Emmett. I felt for sure like we were well over the speed limit, and my nails were digging holes into the seat. When Emmett came to a stop in the parking lot of a mall in Port Angeles, I crawled over Edward in the seat, desperate to get out.

He stepped out behind me, looking surprised and a bit… amused? "What's wrong Bella?" he asked me softly as he moved closer to me. I was drawn in by his eyes, all the tension I felt before melting away into the smoldering gold.

"Um," I struggled to find what had upset me so much before now. "Emmett drives really fast, and I was afraid we were going to crash and die." He smiled and chuckled breathily onto me. The icy coolness of his breath and the wonderful smell made me stagger, but Alice grabbed my hand and dragged me up to the mall quickly.

We spent most of the day shopping. Alice had bought _so many clothes!_ She had used a credit card I'd never seen before, and I could only assume that her father had given it to her. I used up nearly all of the money Renée had given me for this trip, satisfying myself with a couple of bags of clothes more suited for Phoenix than Forks, although I had bought a couple of sweaters, just in case. We hit the food court around two and I was so busy talking to each of them I had hardly noticed when they had finished their food and threw it out. I had eaten most of mine; the rest was pushed around sloppily on the tray.

After lunch we managed to find a half decent CD store. I stood up next to one row of CD's, my few bags hanging off my elbow. I was holding a CD that I had been studying when I looked up and saw Edward.

He was standing eight feet away, next to the classical music section. He was holding up a Debussy CD. His body was turned slightly away from mine, and I could see him studying the back of the CD, suddenly he turned his head slightly to look at me and smiled his lovely crooked smile. I grinned sheepishly, blushed and looked back down to my CD.

Once we had left that store we headed for a bookstore, one Jasper seemed very happy to finally get to. It was like a play date for me. I headed through the aisle of books, settling on two to buy.

By the time we had reached Emmett's jeep I was the proud owner of a few more outfits, a new CD and two books. We all stuffed our purchases into the very back and Emmett began to drive to the cinema. He seemed to slow down slightly, but much to my dismay, not slow enough. I spent most of the trip staring down at my shoes, studying them and then turning to Edward's and Alice's.

We walked into the theatre and everyone immediately began fighting over what to watch. Edward and I stood off to the side, leaning against an unused ticket booth. I stared down at my shoes, tracing patterns in the cheap carpet. I looked up and Edward was watching the movements of my feet with a curious intensity. When he noticed I'd stopped he looked to me and his eyes lit up. It made me smile to see them so bright and my heart started to beat in a way that was definitely not healthy.

"What were you drawing?" he asked. I blushed and held back a snort, which didn't work. It came out louder than it should and I laughed a little to try and cover it up.

"Fried eggs," I muttered sheepishly, staring down at my feet. "I wanted them for breakfast but I got too lazy." He laughed and looked back down to my feet where I had proceeded to write my name in cursive. Edward began to do the same, the two of us sounded out every syllable of our full names, middle names included.

Once when I was writing I hit his foot with mine, when I looked up to see his reaction, he frowned slightly, and then hit my foot with his.

"Hey!" I exclaimed angrily. Then it was an all out war, the two of us scribbling over each other's drawings and names. We stopped and laughed when we saw the others heading towards us.

"Now you're Edmundthy Macarter," I told him matter-of-factly. He looked down to where we had pretended to draw all over the floor.

"So I am," he said bluntly. "But now you're Isamarie swoon." I giggled and looked down, wiping my foot over a large part of the clean carpet. "Destroying the evidence, are we?" he asked me grinning and began to wipe with his own shoes.

"What are you guys doing?" Alice asked us. She looked at our feet like we had tentacles growing out of our toes.

"Drawing," we both said, an obvious answer. She looked at us strangely and rolled her eyes, turning back towards her siblings.

"They're crazy," she said sighing, like there was no hope. Edward and I merely laughed at her and moved to stand up next to her. Alice told us which movie they had decided on, and told us the other movie that it was a close tie with. We nodded, both were good choices.

Edward suddenly frowned and looked past everyone to people buying tickets. We all turned to see who he was frowning at. Walking towards us, and beaming at me very widely, were Mike, Jessica, Lauren, Angela, Erik, and Tyler.

"Bella!" Mike called and waved. I blushed and raised a hand. Like I couldn't see him, this place wasn't gigantic.

"Hey Mike," I said, a little disappointed that my evening with the Cullen's was disturbed. He asked what movie we were going to see and I told him, his face lit up.

"That's the one we're going to see!" he said excitedly. I smiled half-heartedly and muttered a 'that's great Mike,' before he continued. "Um, Bella, we were planning a beach trip in a couple days, down to Second beach in La Push. We were all wondering if you'd like to come with us, something to do since it's summer, right?" I smiled, a beach now, during this rain looked awesome. "Of course, you guys can come too, if you want…" Mike added, looking behind me.

I turned around, realizing that Edward and his family were still behind me. Edward looked upset and then he caught my eyes and smiled. "That's alright, Mike. Our parents are bringing us on a camping trip for a couple of weeks tomorrow." I knew my face dropped when he said that. And, I knew Edward could see it. He tried smiling a bit more, though I could see sadness in his eyes as well.

I turned back to Mike and forced a smile. "Sounds great, Mike. Just call me with the details tomorrow." Mike nodded, waved goodbye and headed into the cinema. I turned back to look at the Cullens. Rosalie had her nose wrinkled in disgust as she stared at the cinema where my other _friends_ had gone into.

"I guess we're going to other movie," Jasper said as he stared where Mike had gone. Everyone, me included, laughed and headed for the ticket booth. Edward looked at me concernedly.

"Are you really that upset that we'll be leaving?" he asked me quietly so that no one else would here. I blushed and looked down, fiddling with my ticket in my hand.

"Well, you guys are the best friends I've ever had," I told him. "I've never had friends, not in Phoenix, and not here." He smiled slightly and took a step closer to me. I looked up into his gorgeous eyes and smiled sheepishly. "That and you're all so pretty," I added in a girlish, juvenile voice. He laughed and bent his head down to whisper in my ear.

"You're beautiful," the words were like velvet coming from his mouth and rubbing my skin, his cool breath tickling underneath my ear, causing me to tingle and shudder. He smiled and turned to face his siblings.

We all walked into the cinema, taking our seats in the second to front row, and staring up expectantly, waiting for the horror film.

About half way through I'd grabbed Edward's coat and was hiding half of my face behind it, my hands were coming up from underneath it, my fingers criss-crossing so that I could peek through and still clamp them shut. When I'd glanced over once before I'd noticed Alice doing the same with the sleeves of her long black sweater and Rosalie looking bored. When I'd turned to look at Edward I saw him looking down at me and smiling his crooked smile in amusement. His arms were crossed and his hands curled into tight fists. I glared at him and turned back to the screen.

When the movie was over Alice and I were walking through the parking lot jumping at every sound we heard. We got into the car and started quiet conversations amongst ourselves, usually discussing the movie. Going over a bumpy part of the road, when my head was bobbing up and down, my eyes sagged to a close and I felt myself drifting to sleep against Alice's arm.

I jerked awake when we hit a bump hard, and my eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. I was no longer lying against Alice. I could see from the corner of my eye that she was lying on Jasper's chest, he was stroking her hair and his coat was draped over her. Their eyes were closed so I figured they were nearing sleep.

It was then that I realized Edward's coat was draped over me, keeping my shoulders and hips warm as I was curled up beneath it. My head was resting against his chest as he was slouching in his seat. I turned my head and saw him looking straight ahead, only to look back down to me. The crooked smile I was beginning to love appeared and I couldn't hold back a grin of my own.

"Hey sleeping beauty," he whispered quietly. I pushed my fingers up from underneath his jacket and wiggled them at him. My eyes were beginning to droop again as I listened to the deep even movements of his breathing. He put an arm on my shoulder and began rubbing down my arms slowly.

"We're nearly home, go back to sleep. I'll wake you when we're there."

"Thanks," I managed to mutter before everything was dark again.

I woke up when I felt the car being forced over the sidewalk to my driveway. Everyone in the car sat up straight and I started to get my things together. Alice gave me a hug before I left. Edward was holding the door open for me. I gave him his coat and whispered a goodbye.

"Goodnight," he replied. "I'll see you when I can." We stared at each other for a short while, and I was very tempted to reach up, kiss his cheek quickly and dart into my house. But I never. The corners of my lips twitched into a smile and I saw his do the same, and then he was in the car, pulling out of the driveway, sticking his head out of the window and waving as they raced down the street.

My heart was fluttering in my chest and I sighed, heading into my house. I thought about it over and over as I called a goodnight to Charlie who was sitting watching sports news. I was in a trance like state as I flicked off my light after climbing into bed. I said it clearly in my head, just to make sure I believed it. And I did.

I was falling in love with Edward Cullen.

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A/N: hoorah. It's done. My computer froze up about five times and my cat was attacking the words when they popped up and then murdered my hands. They're all scratched up. Thank y'all for the reviews! They make me mucho happy now I'm going to start writing the fourth one. I should have a lot of this updated by the time the weekend is over. There's a certain part in the story that I very muchly want to write, It's all planned in my head. Changes of point of views and lyrics and all that jazz ..**

**And the outfits Bella wore are in my profile. I found the pictures of them and then I realised I did a crappy job discribing.**

**Review! Reviews equal happiness. Happiness equals me writing more faster. **


	4. Beach Party

**A/N: I've started writing this at very close to twelve in the morning, but I think I'll go to bed soon. There are only a few precious hours of sleep before my cat wakes me up -.-**

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight. Not even Edward (tear)**

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Chapter Four: Beach Party **

It was only when I woke up the next day that I realized that I had many more bags of clothes than I had bought. Alice had slipped clothes into my bags and had given me extra bags of clothing when she had pulled them out of the back. I found a bagful of make up and sighed, I was clueless when it came to this stuff.

I hated that she bought me these things; it felt like taking charity, almost. I opened my purse hoping she'd left the receipts, and at the same time hoping she never. And she never. But, she had written me a letter.

_'Bella, When I get back from camping we're going to have an awesome time! I'll teach you how to use that make up and you're going to have to show off all that clothes I bought for you. Don't worry about it I _wanted_ to buy it for you. Besides, you're going to be like a sister to me! The camping trip won't be too long, Edward wants to come back (I think he likes you!) so we'll probably only be gone a week and then I'll come see you first thing! I'm so glad I get to have a friend like you! Love, Alice.'_

I sighed and shook my head, leaving the room to take a shower. I changed into a brown T-shirt that said "I heart John & Paul & Ringo & George" and then pulled on a pair of beige Capri pants.

When I got downstairs I saw Charlie cleaning up the dishes, a plateful of toast, bacon and _fried eggs_ waiting for me. I grinned, sitting down and began pushing it into my mouth. Charlie looked at me and laughed, passing me a glass of orange juice.

"What did you want to do today, Bells?" he asked me. I thought. There wasn't much _to_ do. I thought about my room which hadn't changed since I was a baby. There was a project. I scoffed out loud at the idea.

"What is it?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and looked to him, swallowing the mouthful of food.

"Let's paint my room!" I said so excitedly I was sure it sounded sarcastic. Charlie seemed a little taken aback.

"Sure, we can go down and pick out the colours now if you want," I was stunned. Was he actually going for this?

"Do you mean it?" I asked. He nodded and smiled, picking up his car keys. I grinned and slipped into a pair of shoes that were mostly brown with splashes of orange and blue.

Charlie drove us down to the Hardware store and I picked out a couple of colours. They looked well with each other, orange, fuchsia and a chocolate brown. Charlie bought them all, and even brought me to pick out fabrics for the room. I was amazed at how fatherly he was being, even giving me complete control over my room.

"You sleep and work in there," He explained. "I don't have to go in there if I don't want to." I laughed at him. He had a good point. "Besides, letting you do this yourself is making me happy to see you happy." I smiled and hugged him ferociously, causing him to nearly drop all of the fabrics and pillow forms I'd bought.

When we got home Charlie and I started drawing out patterns on the all that I wanted painted there. It would be mostly chocolate brown, with the orange and fuchsia crating patterns of circles and waves and flowers all over the wall. Charlie was pretty good at painting, so once we had drawn it out, I left it to him. If I'd been in there then I probably would've tripped and gotten paint everywhere.

I made myself happy with digging up an old sewing machine that had belonged to my Grandma and then started to sew together curtains and pillow cases. When supper time came around Charlie came downstairs and brought me out to eat.

The minute we walked back inside the house the phone began to ring. I ran to pick it up, slipping on the floor and banging my knee against the coffee table. "Hello?" I said when I picked up the phone, rubbing my knee and holding back my tears.

"Bella? It's Mike!" he said so cheerfully. I rolled my eyes. Was he ever _not_ happy? "Listen, we're going to go down to the beach tomorrow, so do you think your Dad can drop you off at my parents store around noon?"

"Sure Mike, no problem, I'll see you then," and then I quickly hung up the phone. Charlie and I spent most of the night in silence. I kept working on my sewing and Charlie took a break from the painting, sitting down and watching some sports instead.

I was very impressed with myself when I had finished all of the pillow cases, and even a pair of curtains. Because I hadn't had enough fabric the curtains were a variety of the shimmering fabric, different colours patched here and there. I gave Charlie a quick kiss on the cheek and ran up the stairs. Once I had picked out the clothes I was going to wear tomorrow I lay in bed and curled up, instantly falling asleep.

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The sun was shining through the window when I opened my eyes. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window, careful not to knock over any paint. The sun was actually _shining_. There was a strange greenish shade cast over the street, from the light coming through the leaves of many trees. To top all of that it actually felt a little warm too. I was ecstatic. I pulled on a pair of light jeans shorts that came to my knee and a yellow t-shirt with a worn out 7up logo on it. 

I ran down the stairs and grabbed Charlie into a huge hug. "Whoa, Bella. What's gotten into you?" I pulled back from him and looked into his eyes. He seemed shocked and clearly confused by my behavior.

"It's sunny outside!" I exclaimed. When I glanced at the clock my stomach lurched. It was nearly noon. "I'm going to be late!" I squealed and ran to pull on my converse. Charlie looked confused again and followed me to the porch.

"Where am I taking you?" he asked slowly. I grinned and rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to the beach with Mike and Jessica and everyone. All I know is that we're meeting at his parent's store." Charlie nodded and held the door open for me. At least he knew where to go.

Mike's parents shop was north of town. I vaguely remember seeing it before on our way to La Push, but I'd never had any need to go in there. There were three vehicles in the parking lot, and a small crowd of people waiting outside. I jumped out of the car quickly and called goodbye to Charlie as he drove off.

I saw all of the kids that I had been introduced to at the park, and a large handful more. Mike ran up to me enthusiastically.

"You came!" his face was beaming. If he was smiling any bigger his face would crack. I smiled back.

"I said I would, didn't I?" he nodded and pulled me up to the others. After I was introduced to the extra people I immediately forgot their names. Everyone I had met at the park was friends enough for the friendless girl from phoenix. We all managed to squeeze into the three cars, a mother from either friend driving.

I, luckily, got a window seat and quickly rolled down the windows, absorbing as much sunlight as I could. I kept my head out of the claustrophobic car and smelt in the cool ocean breeze. I was familiar with this road, and predicted every turn and every landmark.

When we reached the beach I jumped out the car, kicking off my shoes and running over the hot sand. It felt so good to have some sort of heat. Jessica ran down with me and started giggling, we immediately began to race over the beach, chasing the waves in and out of the shore, and it wasn't long before Lauren, Angela and the others followed us.

The parents had gathered driftwood and started a fire, which, to my amazement, had turned blue. I stared at it in fascination before Mike came up to me.

"It's the salt in the wood that does it, isn't it pretty?" I nodded, still awestruck by the sight. The parents forced us down to the beach, pulling out refreshments as we all jumped into the ocean, still fully clothed. After an hour has passed the boys started exploring through the woods while the girls, myself included, went beach combing. We found beautiful shells and on the dark rocks near the edge of the beach, Angela had found a starfish.

We headed back to the fire where sodas and sandwiches were being passed around. To my surprise I noticed a few copper-skinned teenagers around our age. Their beautiful black hair led me to believe they were from the Quileute reservation.

"Bella!" one of them called to me, waving a slender hand. I focused on who it was, only to realize there was two of her. Then it hit me, they were the twins Rachel and Rebecca Black. I smiled at them and waved a hand awkwardly. Next to them was a young boy, and a few older boys around our age were talking with the others.

"Hey girls," I said, smiling for real. "It's so nice to see you again."

"You know them Bella?" Jessica asked me. I nodded and sat down next to the twins.

"We've known each other since we were born," I stated with a laugh. The two smiled and nodded.

"We weren't too close though," Rachel said. "But it's still so nice to see you back!" I smiled warmly and nodded, taking a drink from Mike's mom.

"So, are these the only friends you could make in rainy Forks?" Rebecca asked me jokingly. I laughed and everyone else seemed to as well. Except for Lauren. She shot Rebecca a dirty look and then flicked her hair over her shoulders with a 'hmph!'

"_Bella_ was making _very_ good friends with the Cullens," she said curtly. Rachel and Rebecca looked at me and the boy next to them perked up. "It's too bad they couldn't come" Lauren said, faking disappointment.

When I looked around I noticed all the other girls present were genuinely disappointed, and I didn't blame them.

"Is that Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" an older boy asked. Lauren nodded and all of the Quileute teens present turned very serious. "They don't come here." The boy said fiercely. The statement had sounded like an unwritten rule, like the Cullen's weren't allowed to come and it took me by surprise.

I tried to push the way he'd said it to the back of my brain but it wouldn't work. It kept forcing its way in like the friend no one likes. It drew me away from any conversation I was having at the time and made me wonder. _Why wouldn't the Cullen's be allowed? It's not like they could have done anything…_

It was then I had a stroke of genius. It was a stupid plan and it probably wasn't going to work. I mean, Rachel and Rebecca were my childhood friends, sort of. I stood up straight, drawing everyone's attention to me.

"Do you want to go for a walk, to catch up?" I asked them, tactfully ignoring everyone else.

"Sure," Rachel said. The boy looked at them blankly and Rebecca grabbed his hand.

"You're coming too," she hissed to him. "Dad told us to keep an eye on you.

"You're their brother?!" I asked him, astonished. "How come I don't remember you?"

"You spent all your time with them," he said motioning to his sisters. I looked him over. He was about my height and had shoulder length black hair. His face was cute, rounded and boyish.

"So you must be my age, right?" I asked. The girls laughed and he blushed.

"Jacob just turned twelve," Rebecca told me. "He's tall for his age." Jacob shoved his fists into the pockets of his track jacket and stared off towards the ocean. I was guessing he was at that age where girls were still ucky. He'd probably want to be anywhere but here.

"So who was that guy talking to Lauren," I asked, trying to change the subject off of Jacob.

"That was Sam, he's seventeen," Rachel said like it was a common statistic.

"What was it he was saying about the doctor's family?" I began innocently.

"The Cullens? They're not supposed to be on the reservation," Rebecca said nonchalantly. Then she stopped mid-pace and stared at me, her eyes wide opened. Rachel sighed and Jacob smacked her arm.

She had just confirmed what I had been thinking. "Why not?" I pressed.

"Woops," she said, laughing nervously. "We're not supposed to talk about it."

"Come on," I continued. "Who am I going to tell? I'm not here for very long." The siblings nodded at each other and nodded, leading me to a log near the water. We all sat down and the twins slipped out of their sandals, dipping their toes in the water.

"Do you like scary stories?" Jacob asked. I nodded, trying to look as enthusiastic as possible. Hopefully they'd take the hint and tell me.

"Do you know any of the old stories of where the Quileutes came from?" Rebecca asked me, her voice changing low and serious. I shook my head. "Well, one of the legends say that our people are descended from wolves and that wolves are still our brothers. It's against tribal law to hunt them."

"Then there are stories about the cold ones," Rachel said, picking up the story from Rebecca. She glanced at me and saw the interest on my face. Grinning she continued. "The cold ones are as old as the legends of the wolves, and some are much more recent. According to the legends, our great-grandfather made the treaty with them that kept them off our land."

"Really," I encouraged, actually interested now. "_You're_ great-grandfather?"

The three nodded and then the story was passed to Jacob. "He was the tribal elder, like our Dad. See, cold ones are like… the natural enemies of the wolves." He paused, seeming to think it over. "Well, I guess it's not the wolf really, but the wolves that turn into men. You'd call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one," Rebecca added, laughing.

Rachel picked up now. "So, you can see that the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But a pack that came to our territory during out great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others did --- they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So, great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they promised to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to your kind."

I was confused. "If they weren't dangerous then why would they---"

Rebecca cut me off. "There's always a risk for humans to be around cold ones, even if they're civilized. They claimed to feed off of animals, not humans. But, you never know when their hunger gets out of control."

"So where does this fit in with the Cullens?" I asked. "Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"

"No," Jacob said. He turned to look at me, to better gauge my reaction. "They're the _same_ ones." I gasped quietly, my eyes practically popping.

"And, what _are_ the cold ones exactly?" Rachel grinned, turning to look back at the water.

"They're blood drinkers, vampires," she said, her voice flat and serious. I felt shivers run up my arms, and goose bumps pop over every inch of my skin.

"I won't tell anyone," I whispered, my voice cracking. My mouth felt dry and I felt slightly dizzy. How could they be _vampires?_ Cheerful Alice and gorgeous Edward? I shook my head lightly.

"Seriously, though," Rebecca said. "Some people are pretty mad that we're not going to the hospital because Carlisle is there. So, you really can't tell anyone."

"I won't I promise." I knew they believed me, the smile on their face confirmed it.

"Bella!" I heard a voice call. I turned to see Mike running towards us.

"Ooh," the girls called. "Bella, is that your boyfriend?" I scoffed as I stood up.

"Nope, and I'm not too sad about that," they laughed at me as I walked up to meet Mike. He bent over to catch his breath.

"We're packing up to leave, it looks like it's going to rain soon," I nodded and turned back to wave a goodbye to Jacob and the twins.

The ride back was only half as noisy as the ride in. I was squashed between Angela and Jess. So, while Jess was trying to catch Mike's attention I leaned my head back and cleared my mind, trying very hard not to think.

Mike's mother dropped me off right in my driveway. I thanked them all for the wonderful day and ran inside, just when the rain started. I called out to Charlie that I was home.

I climbed the stairs stiffly and took a nice, hot shower, washing away the smell of saltwater. When I walked into my room, toweling dry my hair, I stopped dead in my tracks.

It was gorgeous. Charlie had finished the painting and even dressed my room with all of the shimmering fabrics. The way it looked made me feel more grown up, better than the pale blue that had clung to the walls every year before now. I turned to see Charlie standing in the doorway, grinning wildly.

I flung myself into his arms and thanked him a thousand times over. He left after we looked around and I felt more exhausted than I should have been. I lay in bed, staring at the pink light shining through the window from the street lamp.

I ran over everything the Blacks had said on the beach today. It seemed so unreal and yet, a part of it made sense somehow. I turned over to my side, letting the heaviness of sleep consume me. I was now counting down the days till the Cullens came home.

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A/N: there she is. All done. I don't like this one as much. A) theres hardly any Edward. B) most of it is what was said in Twilight. Don't know when I'll update again as another week of school starts again tomorrow, but I'll keep writing when I can. **

**Mr T. says: I pity the foo' who don't review! (Disclaimer: yeah… I don't own mr. t??!)**


	5. Questions Answered

**A/N: Yay, computer back, story updated! My brother has come back home and had his computer up, leaving mine out of the picture for a while. So I was writing this by hand and I never got too far, but I did get some. **

**Here we see the return of the lovely Edward Cullen. And, we get some of twilight's lines XD. I'm using it as a reference for this chapter and the last. Hopefully nothing other than that.**

**Oh yeah, and Bella is 14 . I'm glad everyone seems to like this and is reviewing, and I'm glad youre asking questions, then I know what to make a bit clearer. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Charlie Brown. **

**Chapter Five: Questions Answered.**

After the day at the beach with the Blacks I had begun counting down the days. A week, hopefully, until the Cullens came home.

Charlie had noticed once that I was trying to keep myself busy. When he asked me about it I'd said I was trying to do as much as I could this summer. But, the entire time I was thinking of Edward.

On fishing trips I took with Charlie I thought about his glorious smile, one that I was beginning to love, and his gorgeous face. On a day trip Charlie took me on to Port Angeles I thought about his alluring smell, the one I imagined I could smell on my hair. Te same one I knew too well from the ride home, asleep on his chest.

My favourite times were when I took walks on the lonely, damp and green roads of Forks. Those were the times when I could hear his musical, velvety voice. I could hear everything he'd ever said to me. The thought of him made me giddy and I couldn't help but smile as I walked alone, or drove next to Charlie, or watched him and Billy fish.

One morning I woke up, feeling that this was the day that I started sleeping in until noon. I think I made it to 10:17 when I heard the doorbell ring. Then, I heard Charlie's over exaggerated grunt as he pushed himself out of his chair. It wasn't long before I heard a muffled conversation the sounded remarkably like the teachers on Charlie Brown. This was due to my half conscious state and the layers of construction separating the upstairs (me) from the downstairs (them). These layers are also known as the floor.

I heard the door close, Charlie was letting them in. I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head. It wasn't long before they were pulled down and I was staring into a set of golden eyes.

"Alice!" I squealed, jumping out of bed and flinging my arms around her neck. "I'm so happy you're here!" she grinned at me and giggled musically.

"We missed you Bella," she told me. "To be honest, you're the first friend I've made since we've been here." I couldn't hold back the smile that was growing.

"You guys are the only friends I've _ever_ had," I said simply. Alice grinned even wider and pulled me towards my dresser. She then began pulling out clothes, tossing them everywhere.

"I love your room by the way," she said, tossing a pair of black, pink and white plaid Capri's in my hand. She then threw a blank tank top and a zip up sweater at me. She turned around so that I could change. When I looked again she was pulling makeup out of a drawer in my desk.

"Alice, why did you buy all this for me?" I asked when she turned around. She looked at me curiously for a second and then she smiled warmly.

"That's just the person I am, I _want_ to do this for you."

I nodded to show my understanding, then sat down to let her show me about makeup.

At noon Alice took me outside to go for a walk. We were chatting about trivial little girl things when I realized where she was taking me.

"Why are we going to your house?" I asked, sounding startled. She laughed at me.

"Why wouldn't we?" she asked. "We spent the morning at your house, so let's go to mine this afternoon." She kept watching me out of the corner of her eye, and saw me blush. "Why are you blushing?" she giggled through her words.

"Will your brother be there?" I asked quietly.

"Who? Edward?" my cheeks flared again at the mention of his name. She giggled again and smiled. "Yeah he'll be there. He's been looking forward to seeing you again."

I sighed and smiled. "Did you really mean it when you said you thought he liked me?" She nodded.

"He told me himself, he really, really likes you," I couldn't help but smile. "What about you?"

I looked at her, my eyes wide. I wondered quickly if she could be trusted, if she would betray me to Edward. But Alice really was the kind of friend I could depend on. I knew she could keep a secret. "I think I'm falling in love with him," I told her matter-of-factly. She squealed and jumped up and down, pulling me into a hug. I laughed at her as we climbed the steps to her house, suddenly feeling my stomach do tiny flip-flops.

Now I was getting nervous. I knew that after going through the whit door in front of me, at some point I would be looking into the eyes of a Greek god on earth. Alice let me walk into the house before her and I was once again stunned by the interior.

I noticed that there were actually people in plain view when I entered this time. The couple I remembered to be Carlisle and Esme (only by their stunning appearance) were sitting on a couch and in a chair. They looked beautiful, like an old portrait, just sitting their reading and enjoying each other's company. They looked up after Alice shut the door and their eyes widened when they saw me.

"Oh, hello Bella!" Esme said, gliding over to me and gently hugging me. Carlisle stood up and put his arm around his wife.

"It's good to meet you again, dear," Carlisle said. I was stunned by their appearances and their voices until Alice grabbed my arm.

"Do you guys know where Edward is?" She asked. They motioned towards the staircase and sat back down.

Alice pulled me up the stairs and pointed out each room to me quickly before stopping in front of a door near the end of the hall. She opened it and called: "Bella is here!" very loudly. I stood in the doorway alone and completely stunned.

There he was, pure beauty, lying in front of me. His head was hanging off of the black couch in the center of the room. His legs were stretched up over the back and dangling across the top of the couch. He was holding up a large book and his bronze hair was completely off his face. His bright golden eyes were peering at me and grew wide. He quickly straightened himself upright, and was grinning wildly. He stood up and motioned me to come in.

I did, smiling at him and probably looking like a goof. I looked around his room. There was a large CD collection. I stared at it, awestruck before he came to stand next to me. I turned to look at him curiously.

"What?" he asked. He sounded a little nervous. It was then that I noticed the bruise like marks under his eyes, once often sported by people lacking sleep. I noticed just how pale he was and how could he seemed next to me.

"I'm trying to figure out what you are," I said quietly. He laughed softly.

"Come up with any theories yet?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. I smiled and sat down on the couch, fiddling with the sleeves of my sweater. He came to sit next to me, and looked down to me. He seemed to be growing frustrated with my hesitation.

"No, you don't want to hear them," I said finally. I looked up and he seemed to be angry. His eyebrows furrowed in disapproval and he was frowning.

"No, now you have to tell me, I'm curious," he said. I couldn't believe what I was about to do. This was a boy I hardly knew and yet I felt closer to him than anyone in my entire life. Right now I was stalling about telling him I actually believed a story that he was a vampire, a fictitious monster. I sighed and looked him in the eye. Staring into his bright golden eyes was difficult enough, I was amazed that I could manage to string together two words.

"Well, to be honest I've been going back and forth on Peter Parker and Clark Kent for a while," I said. It was true. I had hoped that maybe he was just from another planet or had been bitten by something real pretty. He lightened up and laughed.

"No, I can tell you now I haven't got any x-ray vision or spider senses," he chuckled under his breath. I smiled and looked down, laughing at myself. "Any more theories?" he asked. I looked away then, at the back wall that was completely made of glass.

"There was one more," I murmured softly, certain that he wouldn't hear me.

"What was that?" he whispered in my ear. I could feel his breath on my neck and it made me shiver. I turned to look at him, completely serious.

"Promise not to get mad?" I asked. He nodded and smiled warmly. "Well, to be honest I didn't come up with it completely on my own," I began. I hesitated some more, my mouth opening and closing.

"And?" he prompted. I sighed and blew a piece of hair out of my face.

"I don't really know how to start," I said quietly.

"Well what got you started, a movie? A book?"

"They're friends of mine that I've had since I was little. They're Quileutes and they told me one of the legends," I paused, gauging his reaction. He was no longer looking at me, but staring at the wall in front of us. "About vampires." His hand pulled into a fist and his knuckles turned white.

"And you immediately thought of me?" he asked softly. I shook my head.

"It was… suggested that you were," I said. He turned to look at me curiously. "They told me that you were a vampire, that your entire family was. And, there was another boy who made it sound like you guys were terrible."

"So what do you think now?" he asked, still staring at me. I couldn't bring myself to look up.

"I thought about it over and over while you guys were gone. It made sense to me, a bit. Like, you're all too pretty, and you were cold when I touched you," I looked up then and noticed him grin. "The night we came back from Port Angeles I could hear you breathe but I couldn't pick out a heartbeat."

I sat up straighter and looked him straight in the eye. "But while you guys were gone I started thinking of something else." He looked like he wanted me to continue, so I did. "When you all were gone I felt so useless and empty. I've only known you for a while, but even being without you was hard. I didn't like it, not being able to see you." I blushed slightly and he smiled wide. "So then I realized."

"What?" he asked softly, his breath hitting my face and making me shiver.

"It didn't matter," I stated simply. I searched his eyes, but found no signs of anger, hurt or confusion. "It didn't matter what you were or what you could do. All that mattered was that I got to know you. That you were my friend and I could be with you."

"It doesn't bother you that I'm a monster?" he asked. I shook my head.

"You're hardly a monster," I pointed out.

He frowned at me and turned away. "I'm a villain, Bella. I'm a monster and by all rights you should be running and screaming. I'm dangerous to you. Hurting you is something … it's just … I can't let that happen." He turned to look at me, his face was sad. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop being my friend."

"I can't," I said quietly. "It's too late now." He frowned again and stood up. "So am I right?" I asked. He turned to look at me and grinned.

"Have I proven you wrong?" he sat back down and we spent the next while talking. Him telling me about his family, how they'd gotten together. Then he told me all of the myths and truths about vampires, everything I'd needed to know.

At one point our conversation took a different turn when he told me about how they'd hunted. I was relieved to find out that they hunted animals and stayed away from humans at all costs. But then he told me how my blood was so enticing to him. We spent hours asking each other questions and getting answers back.

I noticed how late it was once, and jumped up. Edward looked at me shocked. "It's not running and screaming," I said with a laugh. "It's just, I'm late going home." He smiled and walked me downstairs, grabbing a set of keys and bringing me outside into a silver Volvo.

"Edward," I began, strapping myself in. "We're too young to drive." He laughed at me then for a little while, seeming very amused at what I'd said.

"Bella my dear, while you may be fourteen I have been alive for quite some time," He sat down and pulled on his own seatbelt, probably to reassure me before starting up the car.

"Well then how old _are_ you?" I questioned.

"Seventeen," he said automatically. My eyes widened. Oh my god. I'd fallen for a guy nearly four years older than me! This was crazy. Then I thought about it.

"No, how old are you actually?" I suddenly became aware of the increase in speed.

"Old," he said, stealing a glance at me. I frowned and he sighed, rolling his eyes. "About a hundred now, I suppose." I blushed. I'd fallen for a guy a _lot_ older than me.

When he pulled into my driveway I was amazed at how quickly we'd gotten there. I quickly undid my belt and climbed out.

"You drive like a maniac," I mumbled to him. He just laughed and leaned over to my seat, looking up at me with a grin.

"Goodnight Bella," he whispered. I smiled and waved, shutting the door and running into the house, surprisingly without tripping.

I sat around with Charlie for a while, flipped through pages of books just to waste time until it was a decent hour for me to go to bed. Once I had actually gotten into bed, my mind wandered all over the place, thinking of everything that had happened today. I still couldn't fully believe what I had been told today. Yet, there was a part of me that was ecstatic. Edward Cullen was a vampire. His entire family was. And now, I was certain I _was_ in love with him.

**A/N: well there it goes. Now from here on there should be something like… oh what is it called? A plot? Pretty soon the summer will be over too. Only so much fluff can be smashed in! uh oh! Haha. I'll work on chapter six when I can, it should get a bit more interesting now. OH YEAH! Marvel And DC Comics own spiderman and superman. thats common knowledge XD**


	6. Shiny Happy People

**A/N: Okay I'm extremely sorry for not updating in a long time. This chapter has been done for a couple of weeks. But my brother had the internet on his computer and theres this whole thing about different accounts and we cant find my account information. So when I went to set the internet on my computer, it was like haha, emma, you're stupid and can't use the internet. so yeah. Right now im in the MIDDLE SCHOOL. Im a highschool student HAHA. there's tiny children singing "Do your chain hang low." :P **

**Chapter seven is halfway written and the next chance I get I'll update. SORRY:3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Pictionary, Twister or anything else I might mention in this chapter. Well… besides the storyline :P**

**Chapter Six: Shiny Happy People**

The next few weeks were bliss. I spent nearly every waking hour with Edward and Alice. We went on trips to Port Angeles and Seattle, then we spent rainy summer days playing games and watching movies. I was amazed they'd do these things with me. After all, with an eternity waiting before them they surely had all the time to watch movies, but still they chose to watch them with me. They'd played every game ever created and still whenever rain was pelting outside they pulled out a Twister mat or Pictionary, anything at all.

I tried to spend a couple days with Charlie, but, being away from Edward made me anxious. Whenever I wasn't with him I thought of him. The days I spent with Charlie were either very sunny, or whenever the Cullens went on one of their "camping trips." It was now the beginning of August, and my stomach did flips whenever I thought of how much time I had left. Although Phoenix, my sunny haven was where I wanted to be, I couldn't have Edward with me.

I woke up one morning to find the sun pouring in through my window. Charlie was standing in the doorway, his fist on the jamb. That was probably why I'd woken.

"I'm going down to La Push today, you want to come?" he asked. There was something in his voice that sounded like he was inviting me just for the sake of having me there. That, maybe, having me watch was sort of like the quality time I was here for.

"No thanks Dad," I said with a smile, rubbing my eyes. "I think I'll just laze around today." He smiled and nodded, not seeming too upset about not having me there to complain. I rolled over and closed my eyes again, trying to block out the sunlight. I knew there was only a small chance of seeing Edward today. He had told me that for some reason he couldn't go out in the sun, but hadn't told me what it was.

Since he made it sound like he was able to, I ruled out bursting into flames. I sighed and curled into a ball. I heard Charlie pull out of the driveway and head down the street.

"Wake up sleeping beauty," I heard a smooth voice say a couple of minutes later. I turned over slowly in my bed, my eyelids heavy with sleep. There was Edward, leaning in my doorway and grinning at me like he knew a secret I couldn't know.

"What are you doing here?" I managed though my words were slurred together. He laughed and stepped back into the hall.

"I'm here to take you out, get dressed and meet me in my car." Without another word he was gone, down the stairs in a flash. I sighed and forced myself out of the warm cocoon I had created. I pulled the brush through my waves of chocolate hair, not really caring what it looked like. I pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a long sleeved blue shirt. Then deciding my hair was beyond help and I'd probably break the brush, I tied it up into a messy ponytail and practically fell down the stairs.

I stuffed a piece of bread in my mouth and slipped on my converse, walking out the door into the heat and glaring sunlight. Edward was sitting in his shiny, silver Volvo. Even though I knew he was old enough to drive, it still made me uncomfortable. He was supposed to be posing as a fifteen year old. Actually, he had been posing as a boy who'd _just_ turned fifteen a little over a month ago. I recognized the road he was taking me down, but when he turned down another I got a little nervous.

"Where are we going?" I asked suddenly, breaking him off mid-sentence. He stopped the question he had begun to answer and looked at me curiously. Then the crooked smile I loved grew warmly over his face.

"You said you wanted to know what we looked like in the sun didn't you?" he asked quietly. I nodded. "Well then guess what we're going to do.

I frowned. "Couldn't you have showed me in the backyard or something?"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Honestly Bella, I'm not supposed to draw attention to us. How would it look if someone came to your house and saw me in the backyard… looking the way I will." I blushed. It made sense I guess. He grinned mischievously at me. He'd told me that when I blushed it was beautiful. That it made me hard to resist. He's also said that I'm his favourite food, sort of like his favourite brand of heroin. That had made me happy. Just knowing that I had some effect on him, like he had on me.

"I'm very partial to that colour with your skin tone," he said, making me blush a more violent shade of red. He chuckled at me and I glared straight ahead, crossing my arms over my chest. Then I noticed the road come to an unpaved dead end, only woods straight ahead of us. He stopped the car and got out. I undid my belt and when I went for the door it was already open, Edward waiting for me. He smiled as he took my hand to help me out and I couldn't but smile back.

We're going to be hiking from here," he said. I gulped, a large lump in my throat. My face paled a few shades before Edward turned back to look at me. He was standing at the beginning of a hidden path; I was paralyzed next to the car door.

"What's wrong Bella?" he asked. He moved to stand next to me. With every step he took my heart sped up a few notches.

"You've seen how I walk across a flat surface, how to you expect me to hike through an overgrown path in the woods?" He laughed at me then, and my fear switched to anger. He turned around so that I was staring at his back.

"Climb on, I'll show you something else about vampires," he said simply. I frowned and attempted to jump onto his back, only to have him barely grab my legs and move me higher up onto his back. "Hold on really tight," he stated. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held my arms around his neck.

We were in the woods in barely a second and I found myself giving Edward a choke hold as I desperately tried to hold on for dear life. I knew it didn't matter as he really didn't _need_ to breathe, but I still felt embarrassed at my reaction. He was running _so fast!_ I forced my head down onto his shoulder to keep it from snapping my neck backwards. I could see the wide smile on his face; he seemed to be enjoying this. I was breathing hard on his neck and ear and I saw him glance at me from the corner of his eyes.

I looked ahead and saw too many trees coming at us too fast. But, just when I was about to scream at him to get out of the way he turned. His reflexes were amazing and in no time I could see sunlight ahead. We burst into a clearing, a beautiful meadow of tall, bright green grass.

That was when something caught my eye. I fell off his back in astonishment, landing hard on my backside in the grass.

I let out a loud "Oh!" when I landed, and part of it was because of what I saw. Edward's skin was alight with thousands of sparkles. He was shining like a diamond. I stared wide eyed at him for a while before I realized my mouth was hanging open.

He turned to look at me, his eyebrows raised. He flashed his white teeth in a smile before laughing at me. I shut my mouth then and stood up, looking up into his eyes.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked. He stopped laughing to look at me.

"I'm sorry," he stifled a laugh. "I wasn't expecting this from you." I glared again.

"What _were_ you expecting? Running and screaming?" He stopped to look serious. "Well, screaming maybe, but no running. I'm never running away from you." He frowned slightly.

"It really would be better if you did, I'm too dangerous to be around you. Even being here like this is very trying." I grinned and slumped into the grass in the middle of the meadow.

"Because I'm so tasty, right?" I asked teasingly. He sat down next to me and nodded.

"So what do you think of vampires now?" he asked with a grin. I lay on my back and stretched my arms out, staring up at the clouds. "We don't hate garlic, we don't burst into flames in the sunlight… we're not very exciting now, are we?"

I laughed and closed my eyes, the sun was too bright. "I think you're _very_ interesting, but I'm still not scared of you." I turned my head to look at him, he was leaning on his elbows next to me and staring at me. "You're going to have to try harder to get rid of me, Cullen."

He grinned at me and I saw something in his eyes I'd never seen before. And as such I didn't know exactly what to call it. It made my heart freak out on me though. It took a while to get back to its regular, boring, healthy way of beating.

"I don't want you going anywhere, Swan," he said quietly. I smiled and looked back at the sky. He laid down next to me and stared up as well. We spent a while looking for shapes in the clouds, something I was sure someone as old as him should find boring. When I asked him he said it was rather enjoyable. He hadn't done it since he'd been human. He even said it was an added bonus, having me there. I just blushed as a reply.

I straightened myself up to lean back on both of my elbows, looking around at the dark woods around us. I started thinking then, about how close I was to him, and I got a little nervous. I'd never had a boyfriend before, never had anything like it, and I guessed that that was sort of what he was becoming to me.

He leaned up to lean on one elbow facing towards me. My heart started to race a little, his face only inches away from mine. He was breathing heavily, and it hit me, it was cold and smelled marvelously.

"Bella," He muttered softly, I noticed his eyes were staring at my lips. I turned on my side to face him as well. When I did he looked up in my eyes. He smiled and laughed breathily. "I'm not very good at this, being close and everything. I've…" he hesitated, not quite sure to say. "I've never done this before." I smiled and sat up straight, he sat up with me.

I leaned in and put his arms around my back before leaning against his chest and closing my eyes, my arms tightly around him. "This is enough," I whispered. This is good."

His head lowered down to rest on my hair. He started to rub my back rhythmically and all I could do was stay there and try not to hyperventilate over how gorgeous he was and how wonderful he smelt.

"You're very good at this," I murmured after a while, laughing into his chest, he smiled and pulled me back to look at my face. I was a little disappointed and being separated, but he made up for it by letting me look at him. His hands were still on my arms and before I realized it, I was being pulled in and he was leaning forward. I felt my eyes starting to close the closer we got and I saw Edwards shut as well. I knew I was so close to touching his lips, my heart was racing and he was hesitating. So I leaned forward, closing the gap between us and sending my heart into frenzied flips. His lips were cool and soft against my own.

I felt something come over me when we'd touched like that and I stiffened, my hands running up his arms to cup his face in my hands. Just when I thought to deepen the kiss I felt him break away from me, panting heavily.

I looked at him confused, "You're going to be the death of me, I swear," he said. I laughed a little and stood up, shaking dirt off my back. Edward stood up next to me and checked his watch.

"We've been gone for quite a while," he said. I looked at him, his brow was furrowed, and he seemed slightly angry.

"I'm sorry," I said suddenly, knowing I sounded desperate. "I didn't mean to, I couldn't help myself."

His expression change to confusion and then it softened he smiled and shook his head. "Don't be sorry, I liked it." I blushed. "I'm just angry at not being able to control myself. If I could then maybe I'd be able to be close to you like that without a great risk." He smiled and scooped me into his arms. I grabbed his shirt tightly in my fingers.

"You're not going to run are you?" I begged. He smiled and shook his head at me. Clearly, to him, I was being foolish.

"Just close your eyes, it'll be easier." I squeezed my eyes shut when I felt us taking off. We were at the car in less than five minutes. He held the door open for me and then sped around the front. I buckled myself in for another fast ride.

I spent the entire ride staring at the window, feeling a little sleepy. But my mind kept racing back to the kiss, my first kiss. I smiled and tried not to look at him, knowing I'd be smiling too widely to not cause some suspicion. His cell phone rang and he picked it up and began a speedy conversation.

When he pulled into my driveway he hung up his phone and looked at me seriously. "Alice wants to have a sleepover," he said bluntly. "Do you want to?" I nodded enthusiastically. I could hear the phone ringing and ran to the house, leaving the door open on the way. Edward shut it when he walked in.

"Hello?" I asked, gasping for air. It was Charlie, lucky me he'd chosen that time to check up on my.

"Bella? You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine dad; I was just out with Edward. Hey listen, Alice wants to know if I can sleep over to her place tonight, would that be alright?" He seemed to be hesitating before finally blurting out.

"Oh sure Bella, that'd be fine, just leave me a phone number so I can call." I said I would and hung up, running upstairs to pack a bag. Edward wrote down his phone number on a slip of paper and left it on the kitchen counter. When I came bounding down over the stairs he caught me before I could fall. He grinned down at me and took my bag, heading out towards his car. I followed behind, blushing madly at what a gentlemen I had on my hands.

**A/N: Yep, so that's that chapter. That's all I can manage now. For now you'll have to wait for another update :D Review 'yo! That makes me happy when you do. And me being happy is a good thing, you get updates! (Cheer) hahaha…. Review!**


	7. Slumber

**A/N: This is the… seventh chapter :3 sorry this is taking so long. Believe me, if I had it my way this would be up fasterer. So I apologize for the delays and hopefully from here on out it'll get faster!**

**As well, I've got up to chapter 16 written during my little hiatus. The only thing is that it's written by hand so I'll need time now to type it up:S they're also probably going to get shorter after chapter eight.**

**Disclaimer: Don't Own Twilight or Monty Python, or anything else you may have heard of before reading this chapter**

**Chapter Seven: Slumber**

I tried not to scream out loud as Edward drove me towards his house. We pulled up into the driveway where Alice dragged me up the staircase and into her room. She immediately began rummaging through my bags throwing clothes all over her own room. I stared wide eyed when she finally passed me a pair of satin pajamas that she had bought me. Reluctantly I put them on.

"Alice, why am I wearing pajamas now?" Her head whipped up to me.

"Isn't that what humans wear in the nighttime?" she asked innocently. I sighed and nodded.

"Yes, but usually just before we go to bed…" Alice kept looking at me with a blank expression, her eyebrow slowly furrowing. "It's only 8:30 Alice. Humans don't usually go to bed until at least ten."

"Oh," she said, slowly smiling. Then she shrugged her shoulders and dragged me down the stairs, fluffing my waving hair out behind me as we went.

In the living room almost everyone was gathered around. I was guessing that Emmett and Rosalie were out hunting. But then again… maybe I wasn't supposed to be guessing that sort of thing. Carlisle and Esme sat on one couch with Jasper next to them. Then, in the blink of an eye, Alice was sitting, holding Jasper's hand and I was left standing there awkwardly in my pj's.

Edward was sitting alone on a loveseat across the room and when I walked in he smiled brilliantly and motioned for me to sit next to him. I walked across the room, very self-consciously. I sat next to Edward and he gently took my hand in his. When I looked up into his face He was smiling widely, and I could only blush in return.

My head turned then to look at the four vampires sitting across from us. Esme and Carlisle seemed to be admiring them, kind smiles spread across their faces. Jasper seemed like he was ignoring me and Alice was beaming at everyone in turn. I nervously smiled, not sure who to look at before my eyes fell to my toes.

"Oh Bella," Esme began. "It's so good to have you with us for the night. And now that you know too!" She seemed delighted by the fact that I knew they were immortal and drank blood. Carlisle smiled nervously at me before he began.

"Yes, Bella, how _do_ you feel, now that you know just what we are?" he asked me, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. It was like I was giving some very important lecture to m students. I hesitated over my answer and Edward squeezed my hand lightly.

"It doesn't really matter to me," I began, explaining things just the way I thought of them. "You guys are still pretty much human to me. You do things like you normally would in life, just with a few exceptions."

"You don't find us terrifying, monsters?" Jasper asked me, he seemed amazed by what I was saying.

I shook my head. "No, you haven't done anything to make me scared. I don't see a reason why you're automatically monsters for being what you are. You're different than any one's I've ever heard of…" They all laughed lightly at that and I blushed slightly.

"Bella," Edward began. I turned to look at him and met his stunning topaz eyes. My heart skipped a beat. "You do realize that being around us, around me… it's going to be dangerous. I mean, if we reached out to take your hand we could accidentally hurt you. If I …" he trailed off quietly so that only I could hear. "Well, you know." He grinned then and I found the corners of my lips twitching upwards as well. "I could hurt you. If we're not careful, we could lose control. We might kill you."

I shook my head and stared down at the button on his shirt. "I feel safer around all of you than I ever could anywhere else. I know that you wouldn't intentionally hurt me, so I just nee to be careful. If anything happens, it's my fault. I won't have any regrets though." Edward frowned at that. "You can't keep me away," I whispered. He smiled sadly at me and bent down to kiss my forehead. My heart was sent into an uncontrollable display of flip flops and Edward chuckled into my hair. Great, now even _he_ could hear what was going on inside of me.

By now nearly everyone had left the room. I caught Carlisle and Esme going through the door to the kitchen and Jasper was kissing Alice's cheek before he stood up and left, giving me a quiet wave in passing.

"Why did they leave?" I asked in a quiet, curious tone. Edward moved us over to the couch with Alice, who flicked on the large television.

"Jasper finds it harder to be around you than the rest of us," Alice began cheerfully. "Although he readily accepts being a vegetarian, breaking his habit of human blood isn't very easy." I nodded and settled into the couch, Edward draped a blanket over me and I hugged into a pillow. Esme came out with a bowl of popcorn for me and I saw the opening credits for the horror picture Alice had picked out.

We went through a marathon of horror pictures until we were into the wee hours of the morning. Edward and Alice had been holding back laughter during most of the movies while I had been quivering in fear. And once, to my delight, we had a break for a comedy in a classic Monty Python. Somewhere between five and six my eyes had begun to droop.

I thought about the nights events while I wrestled with my eyelids. Emmett and Rosalie had come home at one point, gone to their room and never returned. Carlisle and Jasper had stayed in Carlisle's study while Esme went out for a bit. I had lain down over the couch and Edward somehow managed to nestle in behind me, on of his arms draped over my waist and tracing circles on my hand. Occasionally he would softly kiss my neck or the back of my head. Alice had moved to the loveseat and at some point went searching for Jasper, leaving me with a Greek god cuddling into me.

I noticed vaguely that the grey light of sun through clouds was forcing its way through the blinds. Just before my eyes had closed for good I felt Edward pick me up and head up the stairs, into a room considerably darker. This pleased me as I needed to sleep, badly.

"Don't leave me," I managed to whisper as the horror of him dropping me off and leaving again set in.

"Never," he murmured next to my ear, lying next to me on what I guessed was the couch in his room. "I could never leave you, I never will. Nothing can ever tear me apart from you." A smile crept its way onto my lips before everything went dark.

I stretched out as far as I could on the dark couch and let out a heavy sigh. It was only when I felt something next to me that I turned to see Edward lying next to me, his arm wrapped tightly around me waist. I blushed and he smiled sheepishly.

"Good morning," he whispered to me. I smiled.

"You stayed, like I asked."

"Like I promised," he whispered and pulled a lock of hair away from my eyes. I stared into his eyes; my eyelids were heavy with sleep.

"What time is it?" I muttered. Edward grinned down at me.

"Five," he said simply. I groaned.

"That's way too early to be awake," I decided, snuggling further into him. He chuckled softly and placed his chin on top of my head.

"It's five in the evening." My eyes shot open and I pushed back from him, almost falling off the couch. Luckily Edward caught me before I could cause any real damage. In one swift motion he had scooped me into his arms and stood up, casually heading towards his door. Despite my protests to being able to walk myself he continued.

We arrived in the kitchen to find everyone sitting around a table or the counter, chatting amongst themselves or playing a small game. Edward placed me in a chair at the table, next to Emmett and Alice, and then went to the island to talk to Carlisle and Jasper.

I looked around at the amazing appliances and the style of the room. _When I grow up, this is what I want my kitchen to be like…_ I thought to myself. My head locked onto Esme, busying herself in front of the oven, and then I heard the sizzling of bacon and smelt the wonderful aromas of a breakfast.

"I didn't know you could cook," I said quietly to myself. Every single head in the room turned towards me slowly, before bursting into full out laughter or suppressed giggles.

Esme turned around to me and smiled warmly. "It's a mother's instinct dear. After all, you need to eat, and isn't this what a human eats after waking up?" I smiled at her and blushed.

"Yeah, but... that's usually in the morning," There were a few chuckles but Esme shrugged her shoulders and went back to work. It wasn't long before a plateful of delicious food was placed directly in front of me. Everyone stared at me, expecting me to eat. When I pushed a forkful of the (delicious) food into my mouth they seemed satisfied and went back to their conversations.

I managed to catch small bits of quiet, quick talks. Alice was telling everyone about an upcoming thunderstorm, she seemed very excited. I couldn't imagine why, thunderstorms kind of freaked me out.

When I went to clean up my dirty dishes Esme grabbed them from my hands, seeming utterly appalled that I would even _think_ of cleaning dishes in her house. I stood frozen in shock as she scrubbed the dishes away. Alice giggled and jumped up grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs. I smiled to myself when I saw from the corner of my eye, Edward moving to grab me and then frowning sadly when he couldn't touch me.

Alice threw my clothes at me, a black pair of Capri's and a pink tank top with some sort of design on it. She quickly put some makeup on me and let me keep my hair down. Alice kept behind me but hurried me down the stairs. Just when I'd gotten to the last step I tripped up in myself. Hooray.

I felt myself going head first, and my feet tried to regain their balance, but I braced myself for impact anyway.

I got a different impact than expected though. When I opened my eyes I met Edwards, I was wrapped tightly in his arms. I saw the crooked smile briefly before he buried his head in my shoulder, smelling my hair.

"You really must take better care of yourself, Bella," Edward said softly in my ear. His cool breath on my neck made me shiver, but not from the cold. It was a different sort of shiver, one that made my head turn, and I like it. I grinned back at him. He took my hand and led me outside.

We climbed into the backseat of Carlisle's car, he and Esme sitting up front. They drove, quickly, to my house and pulled into the driveway easily. They all walked me up to my door, I was curious now. I'd been so distracted by Edward in the car that I hadn't even thought of why Carlisle and Esme were coming.

I opened the door for them and led them inside. Charlie was already on his way tot the porch to meet us. He staggered for a moment when he saw Esme, but kept on coming.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen," he spoke formally, shaking each one of their hands. They greeted him as well, smiling warmly. I looked to Edward, hoping he could read the confusion on my face. He did, and only shrugged at me. I knew he knew. And, I knew he knew I knew. But, I knew he wouldn't let me know, whatever it was going on.

"It was wonderful having Bella with us for the night," Esme began cheerfully. I could see Charlie getting dazed buy her voice and face. "She really is a lovely girl." I felt my cheeks blush and Edward chuckled softly next to me. I elbowed him in the side and he acted, more for my benefit than anything, like it hurt.

"We were wondering," Carlisle began then, snapping Charlie from his trance, "If you would allow us to borrow Bella tomorrow night for a baseball game of ours." My stomach dropped two feet to the floor. My face visibly paled and I felt slightly sick.

A sport. How were they doing this to me? I _hated_ sports with a passion. I needed to take two more years of gym before I was free to do whatever I please besides getting sweaty and potentially murdering someone. I was _terrible_ at sports. I was a danger to myself and others when I played. I couldn't do it, no, I _wouldn't_ do it.

Just when I'd mustered the courage to politely tell them no, thank you, Edward took my hand and squeezed it gently. In the time it took me to look over at him and become completely lost in his gaze Charlie had said:

"No, that'd be fine, as long as it's okay with Bella. Hanging out with me on a Tuesday night isn't much fun." They all turned to look at me then, waiting for an answer. I swallowed a large lump in my throat.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," I managed weakly. The Cullens all smiled, Carlisle shook Charlie's hand once more before gliding out the door. Esme scooped me into a hug before trailing after a husband. I turned to look at Edward again for the last time that night. He simply gave me a wink, raised a hand in a wave to Charlie and left.

I was a little upset at not having the Cullens' company on a Monday night. There was nothing else for me to do besides prepare a supper for Charlie and myself, even though I was still a little full on 'breakfast.'

I went into the backyard to work on a barbeque to pair with the salad I'd just thrown together. I lay down in a lawn chair with one of my favourite books as the meat sizzled away next to me. I'd finished the book by the time the meat was cooked and piled onto a plate.

Supper with Charlie went quietly. For the first time in I didn't know how long I watched the TV while he took a shower. When he came back downstairs though I flicked it back onto a sports new network and kissed him goodnight, going upstairs and jumping into the shower myself.

I walked back into my room, fully dressed in my pajamas. I had a towel around my head and I was rubbing at my wet hair. My room was pitch black. I walked first to the window and pulled the dark curtains over. I then felt my way to my bedside table and flicked on my light, nearly jumping out of my skin.

When light flooded my dark room I saw Edward lying on my bed, looking very peacefully asleep. I knew he didn't sleep though. I jumped and nearly screamed, as I caught my breath again I saw the corners of his lips twitching.

I reached out and pinched his nose shut. It took a while before I realized that this made no difference and I let out a sigh of defeat. His lips formed a beautiful crooked smile and his eyes flashed open as I sat on the edge of my bed.

He leaned up on his elbows next to me. "Hello Bella," he said casually. I turned and glared at him.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," I said seriously. He looked a little upset but merely laughed when I crawled over him and pulled down the covers, climbing in and turning off the lights.

A short while after I felt his arms wrap around me from underneath the sheets. I smiled secretively to myself and bit my lip to keep from squealing. My hand found his and I held it tightly.

"Is this alright?" he whispered in my ear. "Do you want me to leave? I know this is a bit forward of me." I shook my head slightly.

"This is just fine," It was too hard to be mad at him now. "I don't want you to leave, you have to stay now." I was sure that had I been looking at him he'd be smiling at me very warmly.

I felt his cold lips press against the back of my head and his arms held onto me even tighter. I felt warm, despite his general coolness and I fell asleep with a smile, listening to the beautiful melody he gently hummed.

**A/N: If this was Final Fantasy there'd be some sort of awesome: "Congratulations-you-won-the-battle" music, as we have all just made it through the seventh chapter!**

**I'm going to work vigorously on the next few chapters and I'm sorry I update so slowly (cry) Its not my fault, really! Every time I try and commit to regularly update things the internet's like HAH! YOU SUCK EMMA! And then I cry a little **

**So yes. I SHALL update!**

**Review!**


	8. The Game

**A/N: I bet the title makes you think something bad is going to happen :3**

**Chapter Eight: The Game**

I woke up reluctantly and the sky still wasn't even slightly light. I could hear rain pelting down on the roof and could see it, from the corner of my eye, streaming down my window. There was a flash of light, shining throughout my dim room. Following it was a low and terrifying rumble. I sat up, worried about the sound. I knew it was merely thunder and was probably far away, but the sound was so low and loud it was scary.

Glancing around my room it was empty, bereft of any boy or vampire. My heart sunk. I forced myself out of bed, pulling on lights jeans and a plain white t-shirt, pulling on a blue zip up sweater to keep me warm.

Charlie was downstairs, listening to the weather report. Thunderstorms into the late evening, no chance of it lessening up. I forced myself to eat nearly a whole bowl of cereal before moving to the living room, maybe to talk to Charlie? I wasn't sure. I just wanted Edward; that much I was sure about.

Before I could even sit down next to Charlie I heard a car beeping in the driveway and a knock on the door. I got up slowly, uncertain as to who it could be. I opened the door slowly, cautiously. Standing in front of me was Edward, his hair falling playfully in front of his eyes and soaking wet from the quick sprint up the walkway. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face and I quickly pulled on my sneakers and jacket, yelling to Charlie that I was leaving as Edward pulled me out the door.

I hurried to the car where Edward pushed me into the backseat before climbing in himself. I found myself squashed in between Alice and Edward in the back of Carlisle's car, he and Esme sitting in the front.

"Ready to go, Bella?" Carlisle asked excitedly. I grinned and then something dawned on me.

"It's pouring down rain, how are you supposed to play baseball in this?" They all either grinned or laughed at me.

"It's necessary, you'll see," Edward muttered quickly as we raced down the road. Carlisle's driving wasn't as bad as Edwards, it was bearable to say the least. At least it wasn't suicidal, but it was faster than I would have been happy with.

We drove down a small dirt road that came to an abrupt end. As I was pulled out of the car I became more aware that it was only misty here, no torrential rains as experienced in town. Edward took my hand and pulled me onto his back as I barely caught from the corner of me eye, the other three racing off into the woods.

My stomach lurched painfully. I wasn't sure my digestive system could take another run with him.

"Please don't," I said quietly, thankful that he was able to hear me. He looked at me confused and then a grin erupted onto his beautiful features.

"Come on Bella, nothing's going to happen to you," he gave me the most unforgiving puppy dog eyes in the world that made me whimper from how cute he looked. Then the beautiful smile reappeared and before another word was said he quickly kissed my cheek and scooped me into his arms, running full tilt.

I clutched onto his jacket for dear life. I could hear leaves rustle as we passed and my hair tickled my neck. I thought that surely I must be a bit heavy but Edward didn't seem bothered. I dared myself to open myself, after I had grabbed his neck with both my arms and forced my head into his neck. I forced one tightly shut eye opened, peeking around at the dizzying green that was flying passed and then the light color of Edwards skin, a colour that was hardly moving caught my eye. If I focused on that I wouldn't get motion sickness and I also wouldn't have a headache from forcing my eyes shut.

I searched his neck for any slight imperfection. It was a lost cause, straight from the beginning. He was too perfect. It was almost like he was a perfect sculpture, only one that still had its arms. Then again, maybe he was too perfect to be captured in any form of art.

It was then that I focused on his lips. They were parted slightly as he breathed and were the perfect shade of pink. I remembered how they'd felt when he kissed me and longed to reach up and touch them. I felt my hand slipping from his neck. Once I realized what I was doing my heart skipped a beat, I turned beet red and clamped my arms tighter around his neck, all at once.

The sudden movement made him look down at me, his eyes wide with worry, but when he saw me looking up at him embarrassedly he chuckled and smiled and I felt the rocking motion from his running slow and finally end.

The hypnotizing and sickening grin froze and I was allowed to see shapes, leaves, ferns, even a brown tree trunk that was drowned in green moss. My feet touched the ground hard and I reluctantly let go of Edward's neck. I frowned slightly; hopefully he wouldn't notice my displeasure at not being held by him.

He put a hand under my chin and pulled my face towards his. All I could focus on were his honey eyes, smoldering my own. I was all too aware of how much closer he was getting to me, my heart racing, making me feel like I was about to faint. His cool, soft lips touched mine briefly and I felt my knees buckle slightly. Rather than falling I grabbed his open jacket for support, but I behaved myself, holding back from jumping onto him.

He smiled and took my hand, leading me into the large, dark field that I had been previously oblivious to. It was an _enormous_ field, I couldn't picture any normal person playing a civilized game of baseball here. Then again… the Cullens weren't exactly normal. I could see Carlisle marking the plates, Esme sitting by herself and the others practicing with one another.

It already looked much better than any regular baseball, Alice could probably throw for miles and Emmett seemed like he could catch anything. Edward gave me another strong kiss before he ran off to join his siblings. I managed my way over to Esme, my heart fluttering from loving Edward too much and my amazing nerves at the possibility of playing a sport.

"Hello Bella, dear," Esme said sweetly as I approached.

"Hi Esme," my voice cracked, betraying me. I blushed my true feelings about being here were revealed. Esme merely smiled and patted a seat in the grass next to her.

"You don't have to play honey," I relaxed a great amount at that. "To be honest it would be impossible for you to play."

"Did she think she was playing?" Alice screamed across the field before bursting into laughter. I blushed at my foolishness. Me playing baseball with _vampires_. Super senses and super speed/agility up against the clumsiest person _ever._ Ha... haha haha…. Bella… You're so silly. I laughed along with Alice, only not as much.

"Why aren't you playing?" I asked Esme. She grinned as she stared at her husband and children.

"I like making sure they play an honest game." I smiled and turned back to the others, watching as the game started.

To be honest, baseball was probably my least favourite sport. I mean, I could probably have sat through a game if need be, but after watching this, I'd never be able to go back to the boring old major leagues.

Edward made the game enjoyable. I actually had fun cheering for him, Carlisle and Alice. They ran so fast I almost never saw half of it, and I quickly learned why a thunder storm was necessary.

When Emmett hit the ball the first time, starting the game, an ear-splitting crack filled the air, easily overpowering the thunder heard overhead. The people in Forks must be terrified of being struck by lightning.

Edward was so much faster than any of the others, he easily overcame them, making homeruns look like they were boring and catching a ball that a professional had no hope of getting.

Fights broke out often; Esme would rush to the pitchers mound, everyone screaming over everyone else. They'd quiet in awe at me, crumpled over in the grass laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Watching me laugh so hard was almost as amusing to them as playing the actual game.

The time eventually came when, unfortunately, I was to be returned home. The storm had subsided but it was still dark out, signaling the late hour. My eyes felt heavy as Edward drove me home. The others had let him take me back alone.

"Did you enjoy yourself today?" he asked softly. I realized then that we were parked safely in my driveway. I looked up slowly, glancing from the porch light to the car keys and then to his beautiful face. A sleepy smile made its way onto my face and I nodded, sighing heavily.

He gave me a crooked smile and leaned over to push a lock of hair out of my eyes. "I don't think I'll ever find baseball the same again." He laughed softly at me. He seemed tired himself.

"I think Charlie's getting ready to come looking for you," He murmured quietly. It was when I saw the curtains moving in the window that I realized we were leaned towards one another. Charlie's face flashed in the window and then disappeared. I frowned and sat up straighter. Edward grabbed my arm and pulled be down towards him.

My eyes widened and I turned my head to see what he was doing. Just as I turned my head my lips met his in another wonderful kiss, and I couldn't help but smile. He smiled as well and let me going, making that his sign that I should leave. I sighed again and shot him a look, one that I was sure he would read as 'I don't want to leave you, you better be here later.'

I vaguely heard the car pulling away behind me and forced myself up the stairs and into the house. Charlie was in the kitchen, shooting nervous glances at the clock on the microwave. When he saw me enter the room he calmed down and smiled at me. I could see by the clock that it was after ten o'clock. What time had I woken up?

"Bella, I need to talk to you for a second before you go to bed." My hand was already on the railing and I froze, my head dropping in exhaustion. I spun around, facing him.

"What is it, Dad, I'm kind of really tired." I hoped I hadn't sound too snotty or mean.

"Well, um… did you enjoy yourself tonight?" he asked nervously. I guess to him that was a good way of starting out a father-to-daughter talk. I smiled warmly.

"I really did, Dad, thanks." I knew my voice was sincere as I truly meant it from the bottom of my heart. He smiled slightly, his eyes seeming slightly troubled. I stood up a bit more straightly, suddenly becoming more awake.

"I'm very glad you've enjoyed yourself this summer, Bells. It's been a lot different than last summer, hasn't it?" he laughed nervously through his words at the end. I nodded cautiously. "You've made some fairly good friends here in town, especially with the Cullens." I stared at him hard. He better not be forbidding me from seeing them or something. He hadn't seen Edward and I in the car, had he? My stomach sank. To Charlie, Edward wasn't nearly a hundred years old, he was barely fifteen, not yet old enough to even have a _permit_, and certainly not to be kissing the Chief's daughter.

"Well I just wanted to say that you're mother called and she's gotten a plane ticket for Thursday." My stomach dropped to the floor.

"Next Thursday?" I asked hopefully.

"No, this Thursday."

"Thursday as in; not tomorrow but the day after Thursday?"

Charlie nodded. A large lump was in my throat. Had I had some sort of advanced notice on my date of departure I thought I would've been able to cope with leaving the Cullens for a year. But one day to tell them how much they meant to me, to tell Edward how much I loved him.

I loved him. It was the first time I'd admitted it to myself.

I muttered a thanks and goodnight to Charlie as I climbed up the stairs and into bed, only partially aware of what I pulled on as I climbed in under the covers.

I loved Edward Cullen.

I played those words over in my head again and again, silently mouthing them into the darkness, trying to taste them on my tongue. When Charlie opened the door to check on me I clamped my eyes shut. When it was dark again I resumed my train of thought, pulling my hands out of the warm cocoon of blankets to press them against my heart, trying desperately to slow its beating.

I felt Edwards cool arms wrap around me and I jumped slightly from surprise. He whispered in my ears to be calm and I was, knowing he was there. His strong body pressed against mine, the cologne of his skin overpowering anything else. I prayed that the smell would cling to my sheets so that, in case he left, he could still actually be there.

The rhythmic sound of his breathing brought back my long forgotten fatigue, lulling me back in the direction of sleep.

I was in love with Edward. I knew that love didn't happen everyday. Love was something serious, not just some game you played, stealing peoples hearts and potentially breaking them. Love was for real, being with someone and needing them, feeling complete with them and nowhere near whole without them.

That was exactly what I felt for him.

I was leaving in less than two days, back to the sunny paradise that was Phoenix. Back to a place where he could never follow me. Back to a place where I could never again be whole. Tears streamed down my face, and I felt Edward reaching up to wipe them away.

What sort of game were Charlie and Renee playing with me? I was no longer Bella the daughter, but Bella the game piece. Let's all roll a dice and see where we can dump her next! Alaska?! Indonesia?! Ooh, how about Italy? Great. They were playing a game with me, for sure. Sending me to a place I no longer hated, introducing me to my one and only, and, just when things couldn't get any better, tearing me away.

It was a sick, cruel game, although probably not intentional. I didn't want to admit that to myself just then. The only thing I was aware of was Edwards cool body, the warm tears on my face, and my overpowering love for him. Everything after that was black.

**A/N: Op! No one got killed. YET! Haha… no.**

**So. Is that a plot I smell? I think it is! Bella's leaving! Oh no! Can Edward declare his love for her? Will he ever know how she feels? Will they ever see each other again?! The answers to these questions and more in Chapter 9! … and maybe 10.**

**REVIEW.**


	9. Do You Want To Know A Secret?

**A/N: So, it is only now, after rereading the beginning of Twilight that I realize that Bella only went to Forks for a month in the summer. Woops. Well, come on! How do you expect a relationship to develop in so short a time?? Also, I've been trying to figure out which grade Bella is in in New Moon. 12th right? Because in Twilight it's her junior year, and it goes freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior, doesn't it? My school uses grade nine, level 1 2 and 3. **

**Actually, Stephenie Meyer messed up Bella's age. She should only be 16 in Twilight. Because I'm in the eleventh grade now and people are only just turning seventeen now. If Bella was seventeen she'd have been held back a year! So that's been confusing me. Anyway…**

**Chapter Nine: Do You Want To Know A Secret?**

I didn't want to open my eyes because I knew that if I went through the day then that meant it would have to end. I stretched out in my bed, my fingers tapping against the wall and my feet slipping form underneath the covers. I opened my eyes, heavy with sleep.

Edward was across the room sitting in my rocking chair, staring towards me. His expression was blank, like he'd been staring into space. I smiled and sat up.

"Good morning," I whispered. He slowly looked up to me and his eyes changed, they filled with … love? A warm smile spread across his face.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he whispered. He glided across the room, sitting next to me. "It's about time you were up. I've been waiting for a while."

"I'm sorry," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "Can you ever forgive me?" he grinned in and pressed his forehead against mine. All I could see were his dark lashes.

"Maybe," he whispered, then his eyes shot up and I could see the beautiful dark gold. Then, he leaned in to kiss me and I couldn't help but smile against his lips.

"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked once we had broken apart. Edward frowned then and stood up.

"I'm afraid that Charlie has been making plans for you to go out with the common folk today." I was confused and my expression clearly said it. "Mike, Jessica, those common folk," Edward verified. I nodded and my head dropped slightly.

"Why would he do that?" I asked, though I knew the answer. Edward shrugged and walked to the window.

"I really don't know, all I know is that I have to share you today." I pouted and crossed my arms. This forced another grin to come from him and he kissed my forehead lightly with his cold lips. "I'll be seeing you after supper, for sure." I smiled and before he could kiss me again, moved my head up so that he 'accidentally' kissed my lips.

His eyes grew wide and then kind and playful. "Later," he whispered. And, when I opened my eyes, he was gone. I dressed as slowly as humanly possible. Getting ready for a day out in Forks with people I'd rather not be with was not on the top of my list of priorities. I stumbled down the stairs to where Charlie was in the kitchen.

I was surprised to find a full course (almost) breakfast waiting for me. Charlie had actually gotten up to prepare this for me, my last real breakfast in Forks… for a while at least. I ate my meal with Charlie in silence. Neither one of us liked too much conversation. When I started to pick up the dishes Charlie beat me to the sink.

"Jessica and your other friends are expecting you, so I'm driving you there, don't worry about cleaning." I frowned when he was finished. He smiled awkwardly; "This will be your last chance to say goodbye to your friends, we're leaving early."

I froze as I pulled on my sneakers. "How early?"

Charlie froze as well. He turned slowly towards me. He knew I wouldn't be angry about the time, just how much sleep I'd be loosing.

"I think your plane from Port Angeles leaves at six am…" I sighed heavily and my shoulders slumped. "So that means we'd have to leave here before five…" he seemed to be trying calculate an exact time in his head.

"Let's go, Dad…" I muttered waling out the door.

I managed to only stumble once on the way to Jessica's, and that was when I was climbing the steps to her house. My 'party' involved everyone I had met there that summer sitting around in Jess's living room, watching television and chewing on snack foods. I was talked to very little the entire time. No one exactly _knew_ me. At all.

In the early afternoon we walked down to the drug store and rented a new movie I'd already seen with Renee, long before I had arrived here. Before I left to go home that evening I was given a picture of all of us at the beach, Jacob, Rachel and Rebecca included. I tucked that into my jacket as I walked through the streets, a warm mist was drifting down, putting an end to the driest and hottest day I'd had all summer.

I turned down the street to Charlie's house and couldn't help but smile when I saw the cruiser parked in front. I had successfully found my way home. When I walked up to the front steps I heard something in the backyard. Something that sounded an awful lot like bad singing.

I trotted across the lawn to the back of the house where I found Charlie wearing a blue striped apron and working away at the barbeque. He was badly singing with an old song on the radio and swaying his hips as he poked at some meat.

"I'm back Dad," I said loudly, just so he knew I was there.

He jumped back and yelped, his singing immediately ended. It became one of those awkward moments where the singers' voice fades away, like they were pretending they had never actually been singing. After a few moments of an awkward silence and nervous glances Charlie loudly cleared his throat.

"Bells, you could have called me, there was no need for you to walk home!" I smiled and slumped down in the grass.

"It's fine, Dad, I didn't mind," then I grinned. "I actually enjoyed trying to find my way around Forks." He smiled sadly and went back to work at the barbeque. I took a guess that the sadness barely hidden behind his smile was because while I had been able to find some enjoyment here, my mother never had.

I sighed and jumped up, running inside. I placed the photo of everyone on the table and pulled out dishes and a drink for Charlie. The two of us wound up eating our dinner sitting on the grass in the backyard staring at the forest. No cutlery was used. Just fingers and a napkin.

As the silence ticked by the misting stopped and the sky merely clouded over. Despite me filling my stomach, there was still an ache. The kind you get when you really need to eat or when you suddenly remember something important you had forgotten.

"Hello Bella, Chief Swan," was the nest thing I heard. Charlie and I both jumped from where we ere in our damp seats in the grass. I was acutely aware that the pale tan Capri's I were wearing had a great, dark blotch on the bottom from sitting on the wet grass, and I wiped crumbs off of my black and white striped shirt.

"H-hello Edward," I stammered. Charlie looked over the gorgeous boy in front of us curiously. I worried that now was when he began to wonder just how much time I spent with him. "What are you doing here?"

Charlie then stood up and looked Edward directly in the eye, as he wasn't an amazingly tall man. I felt my cheeks burning at how fatherly my father was being. Edward laughed.

"My sisters are inviting you over, they sent my brother and I to come and get you," he was looking past Charlie to me. "If that's alright with you, Chief Swan." When he looked Charlie in the eye he staggered for a moment, then went back to his usual self.

"That's fine with me, Edward, if Bella wants to go." They both turned to look at me and I blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"Of course I want to go," I murmured as I stepped forwards towards Edward.

"We won't keep her late," Edward called to Charlie as we walked away. I noticed that Edward waited until we were out of sight before placing his arm around my waist. Waiting in my driveway was Edward's Volvo, Emmett behind the wheel. I sat alone in the back while the two brothers chatted away in the front.

Edward helped me out of the car and stayed by side all the way up to his house. A small voice in the back of my head said that it was to catch me if I tripped. That small made my face burst into an uncontrollable smile. This was received with a few questioning glances from my escort which I shook off as we entered the house. I lookedaround and notice no one was there.

"Did Alice really invite me?" I asked innocently. Edward grinned and rolled his eyes away from me to look distractedly around the room.

"No...actually, I want you all to myself tonight." He looked at me again and smiled the crooked one I liked best. My heart was hammering in my chest. "Come here," he motioned for me to join him. "I want to show you something." We sat down on the bench of his baby grand piano and he lifted the cover to reveal the ivory keys. Without a moments hesitation he began playing away at one of the most beautiful songs I'd ever heard.

"You're musical?" I asked disbelievingly. He grinned and nodded. I sighed. "Is there anything you're not good at?" The music never stopped as he answered.

"A few," was his whispered response although I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear it. "That was Esme's favorite," he added as the music changed to a slower, softer piece. I recognized it almost immediately as the song he sang me to sleep with.

"This one was inspired by you," he turned to look me straight in the eyes. I became obsorbed in his beautiful features.

"You wrote this for me?" I asked. I could feel tears pulling at my eyes. He nodded slightly and I turned back to watch his fingers almost dance across the keys.

I couldn't help but cry as he finished on one lingering, melancholy note. The tears began pouring down like rain.

"Bella?" he asked. I could hear the concern on his voice. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"Why would you write something for me?!" I screeched through the tears. He smiled warmly and cupped my face in his hands.

"Bella... don't cry," he whispered. "You mean so much to me, that's why." His voice, his face, the way he smelt and his cool touch. The way he said my name. Everything about him made me cry harder until I was developing a headache.

"Bella?" He sounded paniced. "What's the matter?!" I threw myself onto him and wrapped my arms tightly around his chest like iron chains. He lightly placed his hands on my back.

I cried and cried onto his chest, soaking his shirt until I calmed down enough. When I moved back to look at him I had stopped sobbing, but tears kept falling.

"Sorry," I said weakly, motioning towards his shirt. He chuckled softly and grinned playfully. My lip barely quivered into a smile.

"So will you tell me what's wrong now?" he asked softly, smouldering me with his eyes. I stared blankly for a moment before snapping back to reality.

My lips turned down as I spoke and I nearly choked on my words. "I'm leaving," I whispered. The expression on his face changed so quickly and made me let out a loud sob.

"When?" he asked quietly. His face was filling more and more with sorrow. It was breaking my heart to see him that way. I turned my eyes to stare at the pedals of the piano.

"Tomorrow," I murmured. "Early in the morning." His face dropped even more when I glanced from the corner of my eye.

A movement next to us broke the awkward moment. Alice had come in and was staring at me.

"You're leaving?" she whimpered. "Why?"

I tried to smile but it probably looked more like a grimace. "I don't live here," I whispered. It felt like whispering was the only way I could speak without breaking down crying. "I live in Phoenix. Staying with Charlie is just a summer thing." Alice's face changed from sad to serious in half a second.

"We'll come and visit you a lot while you're in Phoenix," she said simply. I smiled at her gesture but I knew she could see my eyes were still sad.

"You can't, Alice. Phoenix is almost always sunny." Her face dropped again and she danced over to sweep me into a strong hug. She kissed my cheek.

"Just come see me before you go home this evening," she whispered in my ear. I smiled and nodded to her. After she left I turned around to Edward. He was frowning at the door through which Alice had just left.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked. he looked back to me but kept on his angry face.

"I can't hear what she's thinking," was his quiet reply. "She's up to something..." I giggled at him and stood up. He looked at me curiously.

"Come on, let's do something on my last night here." He raised one eyebrow in question and then something sparked to life inside of him. He grinned and grabbed my hand, taking me out into his car. I had no clue where we were going. He played lots of music and we asked each other trivial little questions about anything in particular.

In no time the trees around us began to thin and I could very clearly see the ocean in the distance ahead. We drove up to a cliff point and Edward stopped the car. The sky was clear tonight and there was a gentle breeze blowing. There were tiny waves on the water that glew a thousand different colors in the setting sun.

Edward was grinning the entire time he was helping me out of his car. We walked down to a grassy slope that led to a rocky beach. I sat down in the grass and lay down, staring out over the water.

Edward stared down at me and when I became aware of it I looked up to him. "Care to join me?" I asked. He grinned and lay down next to me.

"Anytime," he whispered. We lay in silence and just stared at the different colors. Stars peeked through the pinks and purples nutil the sky was completely lit up and the brightest light was from the moon. I managed to drift to sleep holding Edward's hand and wishing on a shooting star that the year would go by quickly until the next time I'd be in his arms.

* * *

When I woke up the light from my alarm clock seemed blindingly bright. It lit up my dark room. I saw from the green numbers that it was just after 1am. I was at Charlie's, in my own bed. I got up and fetched myself a glass of juice. When I climbed over the stairs I found a package at my door. I lazily opened the bag to find an envelope containing a rather long letter from Alice. I was too exhausted to read it. Instead I found a small photo album. It was filled with pictures of all the Cullens and me, some of us together. Then there were pictures of Edward and I that I'd never known were taken. I smiled and tasted a tear when I realized how much I was going to miss them.

My favorite pictures were the last four. The first three were of Edward at his piano. Staring at his music, looking up surprised and then the crooked smile. A sequence of his turn to the camera. The very last one was a black and white picture of Edward and I sitting together. I waslooking down and smiling while he kissed my cheek. I remembered the day as one of the first times he'd kissed me.

I went back to sleep smiling.

* * *

"Bella," I heard someone whispering in my ear. My shoulder was being lightly shaken. I rolled over quickly and my eyes hurt in the light shining in from the hallway. Charlie was staring down at me.

"What?" I asked sharply and loudly.

"We have to get ready to go, Bells. Get up now." I sighed and flung my arm over my eyes. I waited until Charlie left the room before i slid off the bed. The room instantly chilled me after being in a warm nest of blankets.

I moved like a robot as I dressed and quickly packed away the rest of my things. I bid farewell to my new, adult room and ran downstairs to meet Charlie in the car. We got breakfast on our waythrough town.

I saw the sign telling me I was leaving Forks and I turned around, bidding farewell to the dark, rainy town. Farewell to the vampires I'd come to know and love.

It took an hour to get to Port Angeles in the cruiser. The sun was just coming up as we climbed out of the car. Charlie carried most of my things up to the airport. My stomach was doing sickening flip flops when I thought about leaving Forks behind for an entire year.

We entered the terminal and sat down, waiting for my flight to be announced. People walked sleepily by us and workers chatted with each other about their nights out. I felt my eyes droop and forced myself to stay awake.

"What's this?" Charlie asked, pulling the photo album out of my carry on bag.

"Just a gift from the Cullens," I murmured and rolled over next to him to look through it together. He laughed warmly at a picture of Alice tackling me while the others looked on, and I saw a happy smile when he looked at pictures of Edward and me. In one, I was laughing and Edward was holding my waist tightly and swinging me in circles.Charlie stiffened when he saw pictures such as Edward and I asleep on the couch and another one of my favorites. Edward had pinned me against the side of his house. The hand visible to the photo was pressed to the siding, he was leaning against me, his face hidden behind mine, resting on my shoulder. All of the pictures were in black and white except for the firstseven. Each of these were single pictures of all the Cullens in glorious color.

Charlie laughed at the three of Edward at his piano, and cleared his throat nervously at the last one, the kiss on the cheek. He saw me smile at it though and simply put away the album without another word.

"I'm going to walk around while we're waiting," I told him and launched myself out of my seat.

I wandered aimlessly around the terminal, noticing the increasing light from the glass walls I passed. I watched a couple argue in a language I had no hope of deciphering, and giggled at a security guard who jerked awake before he fell down. I heard my flight being called over the system and decided to find Charlie again. When I turned around I crashed into someone who caught me before I could fall.

"I'm so sorry!" I nearly screamed. A low chuckle was the first thing I heard and my eyes looked into the unmistakingly beautiful face of Edward Cullen.

"Hello Bella," he said almost sadly. I smiled wildly, throwing myself at him in a vicious hug.

"I'm so happy to see you," I whispered. before pulling away from him. His eyes looked down at me with bright golden iris', filled with affection. He must have gone hunting.

"I don't want you to leave," he murmured, twirling one of my curls around his finger. I swallowed a large lump in my throat. ONe of those Oh-God-I'm-about-to-cry lumps. I was completely aware of the looks we were recieving from other people.

"I don't want to go," I admitted. "But I have to. I can't stay." He frowned and his eyesgrew sadder.

"But you are coming back next summer, right?" He seemed so innocent. A kid at Christmas.

"Bella!" I heard Charlie call. I turned around and saw him motioning for me to go to him. I held up my indexfinger.

"Of course I'm coming back," I replied with a smile. "What would you do without me?" He grinned again and leant down. I heard Charlie yelling again.

I finished the connection, leaning up on my toes so that our lips met. I tried to be good as his lips moved against mine, but the need for keeping him from the breaking point was overpowered by the need for him. My lips parted slightly and he didn't pull away. Although brief, it was the deepest kiss we had had. He leaned away from me and gave me the crooked smile I simply adored.

"Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

I smiled and gave him a quick kiss before running back to Charlie.

"I love you," I called. That was the first time either of us had said it out loud. The first time I had said it to anyone. I boarded the plane before I could hear his answer.

_You'll never know how much I really love you_

_You'll never know how much I really care._

_Listen, do you want to know a secret,_

_Do you promise not to tell, _

_Closer, let me whisper in your ear,_

_Say the words you long to hear,_

_I'm in love with you._

_I've known a secret for a week or two,_

_Nobody knows just we two._

_Listen, do you want to know a secret._

_Do you promise not to tell,_

_Closer, let me whisper in your ear,_

_Say the words you long to hear,_

_I'm in love with you._

**A/N: The end.**

**Thanks for reading.:3**


	10. First Year

**A/N: JUST KIDDING! I'm really sorry about saying it was over. I thought it'd be sort of funny to see peoples reactions and, although no one was mad at me so far, I feel really bad about it. So, I promise never to do anything like that ever again. Thank you to everyone who wanted to read more and said that I'm a good writer. It REALLY means a lot, keeps me going. The song at the end of the last chapter was "Do you want to know a secret" by the Beatles. **

**Chapter Ten: First Year**

When I landed in Seattle I called up Renée to tell her I wasn't far away.

"I hope you had a good time, dear. You were so upset about going," she said. I held the payphone in place with my chin and shoulder as I dug through my bag. At the bottom I found the letter and the photo album.

"It was awesome, Mom," I said, my smile reaching my eyes. "I have pictures of my friends to show you. I can't wait to go back next year." The other end of the phone was an unusal static quiet. "Mom? You still there?"

"Oh Bella dear... didn't Charlie tell you?" She sounded as confused as me at that moment. "Charlie will be coming here the next few summers, the arrangements have already been made."

The cord kept the phone from hitting the floor.

* * *

That had been almost a year ago. Now, at the end of my freshman year I was on the verge of packing my bags for the rainy town in Washington. 

Phoenix, my one time sunny haven was now my prison. The lack of clouds and rain kept any vampires away, even if they wanted to be there. I wanted the cold and the unbearably thick, humid air of Forks. I wanted Charlie's house, my small room. I wanted Edward.

On the plane I had read over the letter Alice had written. She had left a long account of the events that summer, and how much she was going to miss me. She also left a threat that if I never used the makeup and clothes she had bought for me, she would track me down and bite me.

That letter was now on the bottom of a drawer in my desk. The photo album was buried underneath the mess on my dresser.

In the new school year I had made a grand total of one friend. She alone knew about Edward, had ogled over pictures of him and the others with me. Jasper was her favorite. Reneée had also seen the pictures of Edward and was very impressed. She and young Phil were pretty serious now, too.

In the first few months I had thought constantly of Edward. A paper written on 'The Perfect Mate' was modeled entirely after him.

But, as school grew increasingly serious, he was a thought that bubbled up when I wasn't expecting it. He was no longer number one on my list.

Now, waiting for Charlie to arrive, I missed him more than ever. I cried over him and nothing I did could get me back to Forks. Finally I decided to enjoy my boring, vampire-free summer with dear old dad.

_She wakes up, she makes up,  
She takes her time and doesn't feel she has to hurry,  
She no longer needs you.  
_

_And in her eyes you see nothing,  
No sign of love behind the tears cried for no one,  
A love that should have lasted years._

**A/N: So I'll probably update again later on tonight... Thanks again and I'm sorry :3 review:D**


	11. For No One

**A/N: Hooray for update! Now, I would like to remind everyone that at the beginningof this story I said that no matter what, I could NEVER brake Bella and Edward apart, so keep that in mind - they're too cute to split up anyway. And remember too, that the beginning of the story was when Bella was 14 which, in Twilight was when she stopped going to Forks and Edward moved there. So now, one year has gone by and she's finished her freshman year of highschool. **

**Chapter 11: For No One**

"I love you," She said, and ran off. I felt sick, watching her leave and not be able to do anything to make her stay.

Over the year I found myself going to her house more and more often, searching Charlie's mind for any news of my sweet Bella. When summer was beginning I heard snatches of his scattered thoughts. There was going to be a trip, and he'd see Bella again. I drove home with a smile on my face, waiting, listening for the day he'd leave to pick her up.

Once when I drove by, weeks after school had ended, I saw Charlie getting into his car.

_Port Angeles by five o'clock, _was all he was thinking. I'd nver felt so happy before. I raced out to Port Angeles, pushing my volvo as far as it would go.

I made it to the airport with time to spare. The terminal was only sparsely populated by tourists and yearly vacationers. I couldn't help but smile widely at the girls who stared. Soon I would see my girl.

I leaned against the wall and waited anxiously. I saw people come and go. It was getting close to five. Then, I saw Charlie stumble through the doors, struggling to pull out a suitcase. I wanted to help him, but had no way of explaining why I was there alone.

I saw him get ready to board the plane and my face fell. My happiness was drained out of me. She wasn't coming, and I couldn't see her. Phoenix in the middle of summer was not an easy place for a vampire to get around.

Time seemed to pass too quickly, it was the middle of the night before I broke out of my reverie. Charlie was long gone, had been in Phoenix for hours now.

Bella was not coming.

There was an unfamiliar lump in my throat that wouldn't go away as I drove home. She wasn't coming. I couldn't see her. I guess I can't blame her. Meeting seven vampires wasn't the ideal summer_ I'd_ picture. Maybe she'd forgotten me, gone on with a normal life.

But I still loved her so much.

_Your day breaks, your mind aches,  
You find that all her words of kindness linger on,  
When she no longer needs you.  
_

_You want her, you need her,  
And yet you don't believe her,  
When she says her love is dead,  
You think she needs you._

**A/N: I'd like everyone to know, right now that I really, really, almost hate when there're point of view changes. Especially when theres changes in fifty characters for a paragraph each in one chapter. But, I feel that doing each year in Bella, then Edward's persepctive gives better effect. That, and the shortness of these chapters. **

**Review!**


	12. Second Year

**A/N: Thank you so, so much to everyone. I tried to update this last night but my brother wanted to watch 24 so I wasn't allowed :c. It is pretty sad... but eventually it WILL be cute again. I promise. Don't lose faith now! I might update another chapter tonight, after I have work.**

**Chapter Twelve: Second Year**

This past year has been different. I was placed in the Advanced Program in my grade. My one friend began to drift away. The stories of the pretty Cullens were depleted.

I only thought of them when I stumbled upon the photo album onceevery five months. My obsession with Edward mellowed out a little. He wasn't the first thing on my mind.

The summer with Charlie was good. I made him get a tan and showed him around.

Now another summer was coming. I wasn't too upset about not being able to go to Forks anymore. The Cullens had probably moved by now. I was looking forward to Charlie's arrival. He was always a bit upset about Renée and Phil, now engaged. However, he _was_ happy to see me.

He talked jovially about the Blacks and my other Forks friends. The Cullens were never mentioned. I guess that was for the best, I might want to go back... back to Forks. Phoenix didn't have the same appeal to me anymore. Not like the rainy, supernatural town.

I was excited that soon I was getting to learn to drive. Someday I'd manage to get my own car.

I often dreamt of a large white house, canopied by great trees, driving up to the front to see a beautiful boy with tousled bronze hair, smiling at me widely.

Every morning I had that dream I shook it off, tried to forget. I was afraid it would hurt too much to want it.

Renée called me down, we were on our way to get Charlie. I'd accepted by now that I would probably never have the chance to see the Cullens, or Forks again. Whenever I thought about it, there was no reason for me to go back. I could try Christmas, but I'd spent every holiday with Renée before now.

I was starting to learn to accept that I'd never see _him_ again.

_You stay home, she goes out,  
She says that long ago she knew someone  
But now he's gone, she doesn't need him.  
_

**A/N: So yeah. I find this song is really fitting. I also like Yesterday by The Beatles, so check that out too!!**

**Review! please...**


	13. For The Best

**A/N: This is the last installment of the sad chapters :3 Thank you for all your reviews. I replied to ones I found answers for!**

**Chapter Thirteen: For the Best.**

She wasn't here. Again. She wasn't coming back. I watched the plane take off, Charlie inside, bound for Phoenix.

I felt acomforting hand on my shoulder. Alice. I brought her with me, in case I did something beyond mycontrol. both of us were 'old enough' to drive now.

"Maybe it's better this way," she whispered. "Maybe it's better that she doesn't associate with our kind." I nodded. I had thought it over again and again in my head after the disappointment of last year, and decided _her_ life was better this way. Now, she'd be free and safe from the terrible monster that was me.

_Being your sister I know that's what you want to hear, _I could hear Alice thinking as she walked away. _But, I know that this is all bad. You two are meant tobe together! And... you will be again. _She turned around and winked to me. _Trust me_.

I barely smiled at her as she walked away. The lump in my throat came back. I realizedthen that if I was human, I would be crying.

I turned back to the window, the sky was clouding over. How happy my Bella must be in the sunshine and heat.

"Oh, Bella..." I mumbled, backing away from the glass. "Why have you gone where I cannot follow?"

_I love you..._ I could hear her saying it all over again. I turned to leave the terminal, no longer hoping for any sight of her.

"I love you too," I whispered.

_Your day breaks, your mind aches,  
There will be times when all the things she said will fill your head,  
You won't forget her._

_And in her eyes you see nothing,  
No sign of love behind the tears cried for no one,  
A love that should have lasted years. _

**A/N: That song, my dears, for anyone who wants to download it and SHOULD!! is For No One by The Beatles. Its sooo pretty :3 So the nextchapter will be longer, and has the promise of being happy :3**

**And for people who replied with angry faces... be mad no longer!!**

**Review!**


	14. Late Birthday Gift

**A/N: BAM! How do you like this?? This is the restart of long chapters AND happy chapters. Fo' real yo. Except they might not be as long as the previous ones since they were written by hand... meh. It's happy though. Thanks for all your reviews before too.**

**OMG! I've forgotten for like the last few chapters! Thank you all so much for getting me to one hundred reviews! It means so much to me! The higher reviews I have, more people will think it's good and want to read it! Thank you all so much! (I got excited at the beginning when I had 10.)**

**Chapter Fourteen: Late Birthday Gift**

It's been months now since Renée and Phil were married. Kind of a weird, late birthday gift for me. But, I know she loves him. I can see it in her eyes, how they light up when she talks about him, whenever he's around. I was like that once.

I was ready to pop a new question on her now. No... not really a question. Just tell her. I _was_ seventeen after all, a perfect age to be making decisions for myself. This wasn't something I'd decided on a whim, but had been planning for months now. Charlie being my partner in crime. It was close to Christmas. Phoenix was cool but I still had not seen any snow. Ever.

"Mom," I said, entering the kitchen directly after she hung up from Phil. He's close to the _only_ person she talks to on the phone. Phil travels alot, He's been trying to get signed on a minor league baseball team. "I think it's time we had a little talk," I finished.

"You're not doing any drugs are you?"

"No."

"Sex?"

"No!"

"Then what?" I took a deep breath and tried to think of how exactly to say it.

"I know, Mom, that you really miss Phil. Staying with me has been really great of you, but... I want _you_ to be happier." She looked confused. I sighed in an attempt to calm myself down. "What I'm trying to say is, I think you should be with Phil, travel with him. In the mean time, I'll spend some real quality time with Charlie, while keeping with my education. I want to move to Forks." Her face fell to the floor.

"Bella, you don't have to do this," she said. I knew she meant it, but in her eyes I could see something that made me think she wouldn't completely hate the idea. I shook my head and smiled widely.

"There's nothing you can say. I've already talked with Charlie," she seemed impressed. "He's gotten me registered a tthe highschool and he's gioing to help me get a car!" Renée opened her mouth to protest but I stopped her. "And, Mom, I've never had a Christmas with Dad, so Ithink I'd like to spendthis one with him." She was shocked. I could tell. If her eyes glazing over and her mouth hanging open wasn't sign enough, then I didn't know what was.

"Well... w-when were you planning on going?" she asked weakly. I smiled nervously.

"I've got tickets for tomorrow..." She seemed to be choking on the air she was breathing. I put my hands on her shoulders to dteady her. "Look Mom, I know how much you wan't to be with Phil. And, I haven't really _ever_ lived with Charlie. So... I really think this is for the best."

* * *

"Bella, you don't have to do this," she said for the thousandth time. Mom had accepted my offer. We were saying our final goodbyes at the airport. 

"I _want_ to go, Mom." That wasn't a complete lie. I _did_ want Mom to be happy with Phil, but living with Charlie was sure to be awkward

Then, there was another part of me, way in the back of my head that wanted to go _just_ to see the Cullens. Over the past two... almost three years I had forgotten the kind vampires who'd become my best and only friends. When the idea first came to me, it was fueled by the chance to see Edward.

I dreamt of him endlessy. Playing in the snow with him, going to school with him, being close to him. It wasn't long before I grew back into myneed for him and realized how much I really loved him.

I grew anxious on the ride to Seattle. The entire time I thought of him. If he had moved, if he was angry at me, if he even liked me at all the same way. I never got to hear an answer from him the day I left.

I'd often thought, in that summer that felt like forever ago, that I wasn't good enough for him. He was like some pagan god of beauty, and I was the albino from Phoenix.

In the airport I pulled on my new boots and a thick, long jacket, early Christmas gifts from Renée. I wondered what the other Forks kids would think of me when I showed up. Maybe I'd be lucky and make non-vampire friends? But, when I thought of it, I wouldn't really consider that lucky. I very much valued my vampires.

I honestly couldn't remember any of the other kids I'd met. Only the Cullens (who could hardly be considered kids.)

That was mostly whatI thought about on the plane ride to Port Angeles. That, and how nice my new winter attire was.

Charlie was waiting, on time as usual, when I got off the plane. We found ourselves in an awkward hug in an uncomfortable silence. He helped me carry my suitcases out into the cruiser and we were on our way to Forks. I was all too aware of the snow piled on banks on either side of the highway and the slush on the pavement.

I began to wonder what we would talk about for the next hour. Then, to my surprise, Charlie started up the conversation.

"So Bells, do you know what you want for Christmas?" My stomach lurched. Christmas was a week away. I had bought him a sports book before leaving but wasn't expecting anything in return.

"You don't have to get me anything, Dad,"I found myself saying. "Letting me live with you is great, and if the offer's still open, I'll gladly take anyhelp with my car fund." No way am I going to school in _this_ every morning.

A goofy smile crept onto his lips. "You were always welcome to stay with me, Bella." I smiled and felt tears creeping to my eyes.

"Thanks Dad." The rest of the car ride was spent in near silence.

When we pulled into the driveway I saw a big, truck sitting in a bed of snow. It was a faded red and one of those solid iron affairs, something that could demolish another car and be left unscathed.

"Who's here?" I asked Charlie as we climbed out.

"Merry Christmas!" He yelled happily. It was strange tosee this outburst of emotion from him. "This is my gift to you!" I stared at the old truck with my mouth hanging open.

"Seriously?" I ran over to it, my excitement was clearly visible. "I love it! But... It looks pretty old. I _really_ don't know that much about cars..."

Charlied leaned against the bulbous hood. "I think it was new in the late fifties... but Billy Black bought it in the eighties. He and his son have done a lot of work on it, it practically runs like new!"

"I love it, thank you so much." I really didn't know what else to say, so we went inside.

Charlie and I ate dinner, something he had concocted in a few minutes. I went upstairs and proceeded to unpack my clothes. When that was finished I wasn't exactly sure what to do with myself. I grabbed my bag of bathroom necessities and took an early shower. I stood underneath the hot water, wanting to jump into my truck and find Edward. I wanted to knowif he wasstill here. I wanted to see him.

Even if there were only a few days left before the vacation, I _was_ going to school. If I stayed home alone I would go mad.

I hopped down the stairs in the pajamas I'd had since I was fourteen. Short pink pants and a holey _Doors_ t-shirt. I kissed Charlie on the cheek and wished him a goodnight.

"Oh, I was going to go to school tomorrow,"I added at the bottom of the stairs. He turned to me curiously.

"Are you sure? There's only a couple of days left to school." I smiled and nodded, then bounced up the stairs. My anxiety for the next day was what kept me from crying myself to sleep.

* * *

I woke up unusually early and jumped out of bed. I pulled on dark jeans and a red and grey striped shirt. I fixed my haystack of hair into neat, wavy curls that fell over my shoulders. 

I stumbled down the stairs, catching myself with the railing. I blushed that my clumsiness hadn't changed since the last time I'd been there. Charlie was waiting in the kitchen. When he heard me he'd poured out a bowl of cereal.

"Thanks," I murmured, taking my seat. We ate in silence. I thought mostly of the Cullen family, but was too nervous to ask about them. After coming all this way I didn't want to find out too soon that they weren't even here. I wouldn't know _what_ to do. Charlie left and I waited until after I heard the car pull down the road to begin cleaning up after breakfast. It was still insanely early to be leaving for school but I couldn't wait around anymore.

I pulled on my boots and coat, grabbed my new keys and headed outside. I used to ice scraper to push off the large hat of snow which had accumulated, and scraped the ice off the windshield. The deafening roar as I turned the key made me yelp and jump, sending my heart into over drive.

Finding the school wasn't too hard in a small town. It was a strange grouping of small buildings. Each one with a large number painted on the side. There were a scattered few other students there already, none recognizable.

I decided to not waste all of my time in the truck and went into a building marked 'Main Office.'

After distracting the secretary from her Harlequin romance she was very helpful in giving me a class list and a map of the school, along with telling me the easiest routes from one class to the next. I went back to the truck to get my bags and books. It was then I noticed that the lot was almost completely filled up, still no one recognizable.

The bell rang as soon as I'd gotten my things and I slowly found my way to my first class. The friends I'd made throughout the day helped me get from class to class and I tried to keep looking for the Cullens as inconspicuously as possible. I didn't want to get my hopes up and then have them raped, murdered and thrown into a ditch right before my eyes. I was starting to believe that none of them were here. That maybe we'd only had just the summer, that one glorious summer.

I was led to the cafeteria by a girl Iwas sure I had met on that summer, but after telling me her name so many times I still forgot. Walking into the cafeteria included eyes training themselves onto me. I swallowed a nervous lump and followed... Jessica? to our table. My eyes fixed on my hands and lap. All of Jess's friends around us began chatting away. I wanted so badly to look around, but at the same time was too scared of being disappointed.

The conversations hushed abruptly at the same time and I looked up to see anyone staring at someone standing behind me.

"Bella," I heard a melodious voice say. My heart beat went into a frenzy. I immediately stood up and turned around shakily to look into the golden eyes of...

"Edward," I murmured before he firmly pressed his lips to mine in a passionate kiss.

_All my little plans and schemes,  
lost like some forgotten dreams,  
seems that all I really was doing  
was waiting for you.  
_

_Just like little girls and boys,  
playing with their little toys.  
Seems like all they really were doing  
was waiting for love.  
_

_Don't need to be alone,  
no need to be alone.  
It's real love, it's real.  
Yes it's real love, it's real._

**A/N:) next chapter is Edward's P.O.V. again, and... then it's back to Bella's theres still looots left to the story! I hope you like it. There will be no sadness for a while now.**

**Review!**

**(My brother just stuckhis feet inmy face and I nearlyyelled out EDWARRRD:S)**


	15. Real Love

**A/N: This is the last chapters from Edward's point of view because theres a tiny something extra at the end! This was still a fairly short chapter, but the next one is amazingly long and not even finished yet. Then, I've caught up on my handwritten pages and I don't know what to do yet. :S Thank you all very much on your reviews, I'm very glad to have them no matter what you've got to say!**

**And I'm sorry for any sleep loss. I will accept all responsibility -**

**Chapter Fifteen: Real Love**

In the months after realizing I could never see her again, I was more like a zombie than I had been before. Ironically, somehow, my being dead and still walking and talking didn't already classify me as a zombie. Before I had had the hope of seeing Bella. Now it was late into December. I had not seen her in two years. She was not coming back.

I went through school day after day, doing what I had to and helping Carlisle where I could. I wrote countless musical scores, but always found myself trailing into her lullaby.

With the holidays fastly approaching I drew more and more into the loneliness of my room. I kept the blinds closed, turned off the lights and listened to music, waiting for a sleep that would never come.

This was how I spent most of my time, I was only vaguely aware of the growing nights. Muted daylight came later each day, and gloomy night came earlier each evening.

"Edward!" Emmett screamed from downstairs. "Get down here, now!" I sighed and forced myself off the couch and down to the living room.

"We're out here," he called from outside the open front door. I could see snow gently tumbling through th bright porch light. I grinned. I could only imagine what they were trying to do to me. Their minds were closed.

I stepped cautiously off the porch into a mound of heavy snow. I opened my mouth to call out to my family, when I was completely covered in a heavy blanket of snow. I turned angrily to look at the roof over the porch. Jasper and Emmett were doubled over with laughter, shovels by their sides and snow neatlyscraped off the roof.

Emmett jumped off and began runing across the lawn as quickly as possible.

But I was faster. I quickly overtook him, jumping onto his back and pushing him deep into the snow. I raced back to my family who were then all assembled and trying to hold back their laughter. When Emmett came trudging back sadly through the snow none of us could hold back our laughter. That was the best I had felt in a long time.

"Okay," Esme said, breaking through the laughter. "Everyone get ready for school." was confused I could see it growing increasingly lighter.

"What time is it?" I asked. Emmett pushed past me and went into the house.

"Almost eight," he mumbled. I raced up the stairs and changed my wet clothes. I was waiting in the car for Emmett when Alice and Rosalie jumped in. There was a large grin on Alice's face.

"Today's going to be a good day," she said happily. Before I could ask why, Jasper and Emmett had gotten in and I was speading towards school.

I pulled in a few spaces down from an ancient red truck. My volvo would stand out too much next to that.

The day passed by quickly, as usual. I heard vulgar thoughts from various boys concerning a new girl in school. But, my zombie-like state made me too bored to pay attention to them.

I went into the cafeteria and sat down next to my siblings. Alice was singing a song she had had stuck in her head the entire day. Everyone's mind was blocked to me.

_"Cigarettes and chocolate milk  
These are just a couple of my cravings  
Everything it seems I like's a little bit stronger  
A little bit thicker, a little bit harmful for me _

If I should buy jellybeans  
Have to eat them all in just one sitting  
Everything it seems I like's a little bit sweeter  
A little bit fatter, a little bit harmful for me..."

I smiled. Her song was different, but very good. My eyes wandered around the cafeteria until they fixed on the table where a new girl was sitting. It was her. I swore in that moment my cold heart was beating.

"_And then there's those other things  
Which for several reasons we won't mention  
Everything about 'em is a little bit stranger, a little bit harder  
A little bit deadly..."_

Her voice trailed off and I found myself moving across the cafeteria. I suddenly understood everything Alice had said about things getting better. And, I didn't care if she didn't still love me. I had to talk to her. I needed to. I was standing behind her. She looked different, but was still the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. She still smelt delicious.

"Bella," I found myself saying. She stood up and turned around. Her expression told me she was actually shocked to see me. She blushed, making me grin. I'd missed that so much.

"Edward," She mumbled, but before anything else was said, before she could leave me again I bent down and kissed her exactly like I'd wanted to for so long. Her heart was beating erratically.

"I love you too," I whispered when we finally broke apart.

_From this moment on I know  
exactly where my life will go.  
Seems that all I really was doing  
was waiting for love.  
_

_Don't need to be afraid,  
no need to be afraid.  
It's real love, it's real.  
Yes it's real love, it's real.  
_

_Thought I'd been in love before,  
but in my heart, I wanted more.  
Seems like all I really was doing  
was waiting for you.  
_

_Don't need to be alone,  
don't need to be alone.  
_

_It's real love, it's real.  
It's real love, it's real.  
_

_Yes it's real love, it's real.  
It's real love, it's real. _

**A/N: The song Alice was singing is called Cigarrettes andChocolate Milk by Rufus Wainwright and The song from this chapter and the last is Real Love by The Beatles. **

**I'd like to apologize for any missing spaces. since this spacebar doesn't work :S the next chapter will be upmaybe tomorrow, probably saturday,and then I'll spen all weekend writing for you... except I have to study for midterms. Basically, do not expect updates as regular as you've been getting since I'm trying not to fail at life.**

**Review!**


	16. Oh, Tree

**A/N: So, there is a certain way to pronounce this title... it's like... you know how you go with one of those cheesy grins: "Oh, you...!" Like that only it's tree. Oh, Tree...! Like... Oh Christmas Tree! Haha... and I wrote this a few weeks before christmas and was trying to update it quickly so that I could have it up before christmas... guess not. Next Thursday is my birthday though!**

**People seem to like the song's I've picked out for this so far. Theres two left that are right in the last couple of chapters, but I'm not telling you them, It'll ruin it!**

**If you want more songs to listen to, then I'd suggest "I Know" by Save Ferris. Mainly because the lyrics are amazingly cute. The guy who sings in it, his voice is like Edward's voice, therefore, download it! He sings: "I love you very much you're nice to see and nice to touch," And the song "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap is fun, sounds like somethign Edward would be impressed by. The lyrics are great too. "Crop circles in the carpet"**

**As well "La valse d'amelie" By Yann Tiersen is what I picture Bella's Lullaby as being. If you want to download it, make sure you get the piano version. I could send it to you if you ask nicely! Either that or "To Zanarkand" by Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy 10 soundtrack) It's amazingly pretty. I'd suggest asking me for that one since the version I have is different and prettier haha. And I believe Esme's song could be "Mothers Journey" by Yann Tiersen.**

**I think that's all the music I have for now. Thanks so much again for your reviews! really means a lot... and I just realized that I never put in a disclaimer anymore, but I think you get the idea... **

**Chapter Sixteen: Oh, Tree...**

When Edward and I had finally broken apart he was grinning madly and whispering how much he loved me. It was only when a cool gust of air hit me that I realized he had moved out of the cafeteria. And, it was then that I began to cry. My body was heaving with sobs and I was sure that the tears were streaming down my cheeks would freeze there.

"Bella?" Edward asked, panicked. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" I gulped down another sob, my eyes grew wide as I stared up at him. I was suddenly aware of how close we were. I was backed up onto a shiny silver volvo, Edward's body was pressed against mine. His face was merely inches from my own.

My lips quivered as I smiled warmly up at him. "No, Edward," I flung my arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. "I'm just so happy to see you again." He turned his head to smile at me. It was the most handsome smile I could ever imagine and as a return I kissed him lightly.

The bell rang and people began filing out of the cafeteria towards different buildings. The kids I had sat with at lunch shot me glances. Some angry, some jealous. Alice waved madly in passing and I couldn't help but laugh.

"So, may I walk you to your next class?" he asked formally. I smiled and took the arm he offered me. "Which class do you have now?" he asked quietly.

"Biology," I murmured. I was too distracted by his face to notice where we were going. He stopped me in front of a building and looked down to me.

"May I walk you to your last class as well?" he asked with a small smile. I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. He smiled wider and I nodded at him foolishly. He took my face in his hands and kissed me softly before I turned away to enter the Biology room.

I made my way over to the teacher and he quickly signed my form, making no nonsense about introductions. Students were sprawled all over the classroom, talking to their friends. I was directed to the only available seat in the house. Next to none other than Edward Cullen.

I made my way down the row of tables towards him. He looked up, pretending to be surprised and gave me the beautiful crooked smile.

"Fancy seeing you here!" I said nonchalantly as I took my seat. He chuckled, the sound sending my heart into little palpatations. Biology passed quickly. I took notes to avoid staring at Edward any more than courtesy allowed throughout the entire class, though I was completely aware of the amount of time he spent staring at me. My heart fluttered with every movement and sound he made.

When the bell rang for my last period gym class, I was more than a little bit angry. Not only was gym my own personal hell on earth, it was taking me away from the only person I really wanted to see in Forks.

Edward stood up and held out his hand, waiting to walk me to gym. I saw Mike start to move towards us, but when I took Edward's hand he awkwardly tried to make it look like he was leaving.

I sighed at the gym doors, staring in at the mustard colored floors covered with different lines.

"What's wrong?" he whispered. Edward couldn't hear my thoughts I remembered absently. I was lucky. I was an absolute _mess_ in Biology.

"I hate gym. With the fiery passion of a thousand suns..." I said truthfully, glaring all around me. he grinned and tried not to laugh as he softly kissed my forehead. He must have heard my heart earlier and was trying to keep me from going into cardiac arrest by staying away from my mouth.

Lucky me, being the new student, I was not forced to take part in any of the 'fun' games one would play in a gymnasium. Maybe Renée will send them a note soon, saying that I am a hazard to myself and everyone around me. Then they'd be smart enough to take me out of gym. After class I had all the signatures I'd needed and was heading back to the office. I couldn't see Edward anywhere but I _had_ left a little earlier than normal. I dropped off the slip to the secretary and stepped outside to into a cold gust of air that literally stole my breath away. Edward appeared at my side while I was gasping for air.

"Cold enough for you?" he asked with a wry grin. I pulled my arms close to my chest but I still began to shiver. I nodded my head violently and my teeth chattered together. Edward snorted, trying to stifle laughter, but it came out anyway, loud and hearty. I glared at him and stomped away to my truck. In the blink of an eye he was in front of me, giving me the most adorable puppy eyes and sticking out his bottom lip sadly. My heart flopped, I could tell he was trying to keep from laughing again. I glared at him. It was not fair that he could know what he could know what he did to the insides of me when I still had no clue whatsoever about him.

I hopped into my truck, slamming the door and pulling on my seatbelt.

"Bella, please don't be mad!" he begged. I turned to see him standing outside of my window, looking sad and dejected. Then I noticed the stares, we'd been getting quite an audience over the sourse fo the day. Edward looked sincerely upset and my smile made his expression change to confusion.

"I'm not mad Edward!" The roaring engine blasted to life and I flinched, still unused to the loud sound. "I'll see you later!" Then, I drove away, waggling my fingers at him through the window. I felt sick to my stomach, leaving him now after just finding him again. I hoped that this teasing would get him to come and see me wuickly.

I pulled my truck into the driveway and slumped down in the seat. I sighed and closed my eyes. I still needed to readjust my eeys to the achey white light that forced its way through the grey sky.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there listening to the eery quiet, but after a short while I decided it was time to make supper. And wait for Edward. When I turned to open the door it was his face that I saw through the window.

"Oh," I said softly as I stared at him through the glass. He was watching me angrily and I could see the corners of his mouth twitching, trying to keep from laughing at me again. I caught sight of something behind him that made my nose wrinkle in disgust. But, that action only made his expression confused and slightly hurt.

I dropped out of the cab to find myself shorter than him, unlike when I had been sitting. "I'm not making a face at you," I assured him, slipping my hand into his. "It's just..." I motioned to the white stuff falling around us.

"Snow," he said happily as we walked into the house. "Don't you like snow?"

"No, and you should know that. Snow just means its too cold for rain," I retorted. I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see what I could create.

"Well I haven't seen you in nearly three years, Bella. I thought maybe you'd changed on me," he answered quietly. I moved over to him slowly and picked up his face in my hands.

"I haven't changed on you, I'm still very much in love with you, too." I smiled at him and without another word he pushed against my hands and leaned over the counter to kiss me lovingly. There really was no logical reason to my actions, aside from the fact that this 'boy' is irresistable. I threw myself over the counter and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my lips harder against his.

I could feel him grinning against me but he calmly pulled my arms down and broke the kiss, much to my dismay.

"Sorry," I murmured, blushing dark red. He smiled beautifully and went into the living room, stretching himself out on the whole length of the couch.

"We're going to have to get used to that again, aren't we?" he asked playfully. I grinned, just knowing he was staying around was good enough for me.

"Why didn't you come back, Bella?" he asked sadly after I had prepared a decent meal and set it into the oven.

I went back into the living room and sat in Charlie's armchair. He frowned and sat up, reaching over to pull me down to lie next to him. "It wasn't up to me," I whispered. Thinking about the time I had spent away from Edward was making me sad again. "Renée and Charlie had decided to have Charlie come visit me. Summer was virtually unbearable if I wasn't here..."

I felt his hold around my waist tighten. My lips unconciously formed a smile and my stomach wa turning over from all the butterflies inside.

"How is it going for you," I said as light-heartedly as possible. "You know, with the me smelling so edible and all that jazz." He laughed darkly and I saw him curling a lock of my hair around his finger.

"It was hard, in Biology especially," he began. "I wanted nothing more than to sweep you off your feet and leave just to have your for myself. Now, I think I'm starting to better... desensitize myself, like that summer." He paused for a moment, like he was trying to recollect happy memories. I turned to face him, and his golden eyes were smouldering my own.

"You have no idea," he began quietly. "How hard it was for me not to rip apart most of the boys in school. Their thoughts... ugh. Mike Newton hardly even remembers you. He just thinks you're _pretty_." His face was wrinkled in disgust. I was guessing by his expression that I was very much the _opposite_ of pretty. If that was so, then was I kissing myself in coming here? I should've known better. Edward must be doing this just ot make me feel good, or as a bet like in one of those stupid teen movies. I always knew that he was far too good for me, I never deserved him.

But, Edward's face lightened and he grinned, leaning hi head down farther so that our noses were touching. "You are _so much more_ than just pretty," he whispered. The color rose in my cheeks and he chuckled before softly brushing his lips against mine.

I heard a car door slam shut and both of our eyes shot open.

"I'm assuming it is much to soon for you to bring any friends home, especially one like me?" I nodded, my face grim. He smiled and kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later then." In a flash he was gone. I rushed into the kitchen, expecting to see a body shaped hole in the wall, like in cartoons. Charlie stumbled in the door when I turned off the timer on the oven.

"Bells!" he yelled. "I have a surprise!" I stuck my head around the corner and found myself staring at a big, full, evergreen tree."

"Oh! ...A tree..." I said, trying to sound impressed. It was only then that I realized there were no Christmas decorations out.

"Yeah!" Charlie's face appeared from behind the mass of needles. "I got off work early to cut it down!"

"You cut it down yourself?!" I _was_ impressed. Charlie looked at me like I had missed something that was blatantly obvious. Or I was just _really_ stupid.

"Yeah... what do you and Renée usually do? Buy one?"

"No," I replied. "We have a fake tree." Never, not once in my life had I had a real tree for Christmas. Charlie scoffed and hobbled into the living room. He lent the tree in a corner by the window and ten disappeared, coming back with boxes labeled 'christmas stuff'.

Charlie tied the tree to the wall and stood it up in its stand. He sat down and turned on a sports program while I tried to untangle a massive mess of lights. Charlie seemed impressed by my ability to string lights. I was too, seeing as it was my first time even attempting it. It was lucky for me that Charlie took good care of his. Half of Renée's were burnt out.

Charlie helped me hang ornaments, most of which were quite old and fragile. When everything was finished I was pleased by our genuine Christmas tree.

It was barely ten o'clock but I found myself anxious to go to bed. Edward had said he'd see me later. I could only hope that I'd be lucky enough to enjoy his company tonight, like I had years ago.

"I'm going to go to bed now, Dad," I said, quickly kissing him on the cheek. "I've got to get up early tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, Bells. Good job on the tree!" I grinned back to him as I climbed the stairs, maybe a little too quickly. I burst into the dark room, murmuring Edward's name over and over. I stumbled over and flicked on my bedside light, nearly screaming when I saw Edward sitting up in my bed. I jumped back and clutched my heart, he just smiled, sitting there like a supermodel; shirt rumpled, hair askew.

"Hello," he said in a husky voice after laughing at me a alightly. My heart was going a hundred miles per hour in my chest. "I missed you," he whispered as he stood up and walked over to me. I backed away, finding myself pressed against the open window. I had that sick feeling in my stomach, where you know you're falling but it feels worse than it actually is. Edward put his hands on either side of the sill beside me and leaned in, slowly.

Too slowly for me. I'd been without him for so long, now he was just teasing me. I leaned up on the tips of my toes to push my lips into his. He paused in surprise and then kissed me back, stronger than ever before.

A cool breeze blew in the window and onto my back. It was freezing cold and my body involuntarily arched against Edward's for warmth and I whimpered.

Edward froze. Our lips broke apart and he looked down to me. My body was crushed against his, I had folds of his shirt grabbed up in my hands. "You okay?" he asked quietly as he pushed the window closed behind me. I blushed and stared into his gorgeous golden eyes.

"I'm fine now," I whispered. Edwrd grinned and scooped me into his arms to sit in my rocking chair. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he cradled me close. "I think I missed this the most," I said after a while of staring at him.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Seeing you at night like this," I tucked my head into his shoulder.

"I missed hearing you talk in your sleep," he said, and I could hear him trying to hide the laughter on his voice. My stomach lurched and my face lost its color. I groaned and stood up, flopping down onto my bed.

"Aw, Bella honey, don't worry. You're so cute when you're like that." I blushed and dropped my hands over my face.

"Don't," he said quietly, pulling at my hands with his strong grip. "I haven't seen you in so long, don't make me wait any longer." I peeked at him through my fingers and saw him pouting at me. His eyes were dazzling and I was vaguely aware of my weakening strength, my hands being pinned down next to me. At the same time, I became incresingly aware of Edward stradling me, his knees on either side of my hips.

My eyes widened and I felt my face flush, again. Edward grinned and slowly bent down to press his cool lips to my neck. I smiled, trying to wait patiently for him to travel up my neck. Just before he kissed my cheek I turned my head, forcing him to 'accidentally' kiss my lips. The two of us laughed a little, but he never stopped and I kissed him back. He kissed the top of my nose and smiled down to me, his beautiful butterscotch eyes gazing down into mine. He lay down on top of me and rolled over, letting me lie on top of him. I gladly let my head fall to his neck and closed my eyes.

"I love you so much," I whispered to him. I could feel his smile and the vibrations of a small chuckle.

"I love you so much more," he said back.

"No..." I complained. "I love you more than anything. More than... my truck."

"I love you more than all the stars in the sky... more than every mile in space," he whispered dramatically. Deep.

I pushed my head up to look into his eyes. "Okay, you win," I said simply. He smiled, the victor. I stood up suddenly. "But I still love you more." He jumped up, ready to fight with me but I grabbed my pajamas and rushed out of the room, into the bathroom.

I went back in pulling at the tanlges in my hair. When I entered it was pitch black. Edward was curled up underneath the covers. I decided to leave the light off.

"Edward?" I asked, shaking his shoulder.

"Shh..." he mumbled. "I'm sleeping." I smiled at him though he couldn't see.

"Well move over a little please, I'm tired too." With that he shifted about an inch. I could see the enormous grin on his face. My sigh of frustration turned into a yawn of fatigue as I climbed in next to him. It was difficult, to say the least. I couldn't pus hhim at all and he hogged all of the covers. My back was pressed against his uncomfortably.

When I yawned a little louder Edward turned, moving over considerably and pulling me with him. He pushed the blankets warmly around me and held me tightly. I pushed away from him and turned over to wrap my arms around him. HIs chin rested on top of my hair.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered, kissing my forehead.

"Yeah, same to you."

* * *

I could hear a staticy sound in the background when I woke up. I squinted my eyes against the daylight. Edward was leaning against me and greeted me with a smile.

"Good mornin' beautiful," I said, closing my eyes again. I did _not_ want to go to school.

"Listen," he replied. I tried to focus on the buzzing voices which were apparently coming from my radio.

"...Forks High will be closed for the remainder of the day. I bet the kids our there are pretty happy!" My eyes opened wide.

"Why is school closed?" I asked. Edward grinned knowingly.

"Look outside."

I got up and instantly grew very cold. I pushed away the curtains and found myself staring at white. The ground was _covered_ in snow, mounds of it. The street must have been plowed before. It wasn't as build up as the rest. The snow was still falling down hard. I found my lips curling into a smile.

"School gets closed for snow?!" I asked, incredulous. Edward nodded and stood up next to me.

"Bet you don't hate snow now." I smiled. This _was_ pretty cool. I'd never seen any weather as bad as this before.

"Now what?" He seemed to pause to think.

"We can do whatever we want today, no school , no homework." I grinned and left the room. "Where are you going?" he called.

"I'm making breakfast!" I yelled. Edward was in the kitchen before me.

"What are you making?" he asked innocently. It reminded me of a little boy towards his mother. I shrugged. "Can I help?"

"Can you cook?" Edward frowned.

"No... but I can try!" He looked at me so hopefully that it nearly broke my heart. My lip quivered. He looked so cute!

"Okay! You can help. Beat some eggs for me." I turned to put oil in the pan and when I turned back around, Edward was handing me a bowl of scrambled eggs. The frying pan was nowhere near hot.

"I-I think I can take it from here," I said quietly. He just laughed and went into the living room to turn on the television. I finished my french toast listening to the trivial conversations of lead characters in God knows what he was watching. I was flicking the toast onto my plate when I heard something behind me.

"You're actually going to eat that?" he asked. I jumped and spun around, baring my spatula in self defence.

"Of course! It's yummy!" I smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back at me. "It's my favourite food." He grimaced at the egg soaked bread that had cooked a lovely golden brown and was now sitting greasily on my plate. "What's yours?" I asked. His expression turned blank.

"Mountain lion," he murmured, walking away from me. I grinned and quickly kissed his cheek before I smothered my breakfast in syrup.

"Where did I get you?" he asked. I knew he wasn't expecting an answer.

"A secondhand store," I said matter-of-factly. I heard him laugh and then felt his cool breath on my neck.

"You, my dear, are one of a kind. Much too good for a secondhand store." His breath on my ear sent shivers down my spine.

Edward and I sat in the living room. He watched the forecast while I stared out the widow, fascinated by the weather and shoving vast amounts of french toast into my mouth. The snow was lessening a little, there was still a lot piled up in the nearly empty driveway.

I got up and dropped my dishes in the sink. I could feel Edwards eyes watching me as I climbed over the stairs. I came back shortly after to see him staring up at me. I'd changed into a pair of jeans and a heavy knit sweater.

"And what are you planning on doing?" he asked curiously. I smiled and pushed past him. I was pulling on my coat and boots when he came up to me again.

"I've got to shovel the snow!" I said innocently. Edward rolled his eyes and put on his jacket as well. I pulled on a hat that reached my eyebrows and threw a pair of mittens at him.

"You don't want to catch cold!" he grimaced and put them on anyway.

He looked absolutely adorable with mittens, especially when he stuck his hands out for me to tuck them into his jacket. There were two shovels outside the door. One big, one small. IT was still snowing and bone-chillingly cold. Edward grabbed the largest shovel and jumped off the front steps, falling into a seoft bed of snow.

"I'll start out front, you start here and we'll meet in the middle," he called as he pushed his way out.

Scraping off the front steps wassn't so bad. Especially for my first time in snow. When I reached the driveway I had to take small scoops of snow for the large amout that was there. I looked up and Edward was nearly halfway down the driveway, throwing piles of snow over his shoulder like it was nothing.

I decided to try something I'd seen in many an afterschool special. I quietly set down the shovel and kept my eyes fixed on Edward (which wasn't hard to not do). I bent down and scooped up a handful of the wet stuff, moulding it into a perfect ball. I watched as Edward continued to grow closer to me. I took aim and threw as hard as I could. Oh please, don't let it miss and make me look like a fool. I'd probably say some lame excuse like; Whoo, I guess its snowing harder now! I was amazed to watch it hit Edward directly on his head. I let out a loud laugh and picked up my shovel, quickly pretending to be working again.

Edward froze as soon as I'd hit him. I tried my hardest not to laugh but I couldn't help it. I was nearly doubled over, clutching my stomach in pain from laughing at him. He looked up slowly, that crooked smile displayed on his lips. He dropped his shovel and I immediately stopped laughing. He was going to do something, and I knew I was going to be on the receiveing end of it.

I ran, more like hopped, through the snow into the backyard. I was laughing so hard again I was almost screaming. I could hear Edward running up behind me, but Ididn't care. I kept going. I was up to my thighs in snow, barely wading through it.

In about two seconds flat I was flying through the air, landing on my back in the snow. Edward was next to me, laughing loudly. I tried to sit up but the weight of my jacket and all the snow wouldn't let me. Instead I looked to Edward. He was still laughing, rolling from side to side.

I turned onto my side and grinned at him. I threw my hat in the air, completely aware of how my hair was standing on end. But, I closed my eyes and kissed him instead of worrying about it. He rolled me over and stood up, walking towards the half unshoveled driveway. I sighed loudly and flailed my arms and legs, a tired attempt to make a first snow angel.

"Help me!" I yelled to Edward. I couldn't get up _and_ I didn't want to ruin a potentially perfect angel. He rushed back over to me and pulled me swiftly to my feet. We looked at my not-so perfect but rather deformed angel and smiled before stumbling back to the driveway.

Edward finished the rest while I supervised. Entering the house again, we realized how wet we'd gotten. Edward and I hung up out coats in the shower and left the mitten and boots on a heater. I ran upstairs to quickly change my clothes.

"Oh, your shirt is completely soakened," I said. "And your pants..."

"I'm sorry," he said playfully. I smiled.

"You can't sit in wet clothes," I mumbled.

"Bella, it's not like I'm going to catch cold," he disagreed. "I _could_ go home and change, I guess."

"But I don't want you to leave!" I retorted. He grinned.

"And I don't want to go. How about we just let my shirt dry out?" I threw a towel at him.

"You better cover up, mister! I don't want you parading around here!" he laughed and turned around, quickly pulling the blue shirt over his head. My eyes nearly popped out of my face. His body was perfectly toned and I could not take my eyes off him. I thought it strange I'd never noticed before. He ruffled his wet hair with the towel and then draped it over his shoulders. He took my hand and we went back downstairs, watching movies the rest of the afternoon. The snow lessened but didn't stop.

Charlie came home early again. Lucky me, Edawrd had left to change. Charlie was impressed with my supposed one-man-driveway-shoveling-act. I let him believe what he wanted.

When the time was right I said goodnight and hurried up the stairs. I quickly slipped into my pajamas while Edward wasn't around and slipped into bed. I assumed there would be school again tomorrow, but I couldn't care less. As long as Edward was there, I'd go anywhere.

I heard my window opening and looked over to see him climbing in, snow clinging onto his perfect hair.

"Oh!" he said when he saw me. "You're looking awfully nice this evening!" I smiled and patted the spot on the bed next to me. Edward lay there, flicking off the lights. I immediately felt sleepy in the dark.

"Bella?" Edward asked gently. "There's a dance tomorrow night... would you go with me, please? It's just to celebrate the Christmas holidays."

"Umm... I can't dance," I said simply. It was the truth. I would probably kill him. "And I don't have anything to wear."

"Alice does, and _I_ can dance," he said. I sighed. I was much too tired to fight with him.

"Okay."

**A/N: BAM! How was that??!! yeah. I thought it was whoa long... :S I'm liking the whole, I've got everything written by hand so now I don't have to think too much deal. haha. **

**I hope you like it! And there WILL be dancin' in the next chapitre. Thats french for chapter! I'm very tired as I'm up late to do this for you all and I may be developing carpal tunnel, but definately developing a cold. Theres preview pictures of Bella and Alice's dresses in my profile where lots of Bella's other clothes are because I'm a dork and liked them lots :3**

**I'm very tired but I'd like to sat that you all should check out BroodyBrathan23's fic "When we Meet and Collide". It's really interesting, and it's got a refreshing take on things. **

**Now, If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed 3 (my bum hurst from sitting here writing, and I jsut finished babysitting:C)**

**I hope to have an update for you soon! tomorrow, maybe. By wednesday definately. One exam down, four to go.**

**Review!**


	17. Dance, Dance

**A/N: I'd like you to know that I was shoveling today while feeling like death! And my mom told me that both of my brothers and I talked in our sleep since we were little. The other day she heard me say three things while I was asleep, like really clearly, but the only one she remembered was: "Really??!!" I think that's awesome. I'm Bella, basically. No haha. So please remember that the dresses Bella and Alice are wearing in this chapter are in my profile. And, I've also picked out my cast for Twilight/ this story :D I like my people. **

**HOLY 200 REVIEWS BATMAN!!! **

**you guys rock!**

**The beginning of this chapter was NOT meant to be like a part from New Moon, I came up with this and then remembered New Moon after and was kicking myself. Seriously though, this really does set up basically what's going to happen in the story, so if you're smart you'll keep in mind what's happening here and remember it, maybe you'll even figure it out!**

**Oh yeah, AND this title is _meant_ to be like the Fallout Boy song.**

**Chapter Seventeen: Dance, Dance**

I woke up feeling like death. The clock told me it was five am. I couldn't see Edward anywhere and I didn't care in the slightest. I took off running like a bullet, falling onto my knees in front of the toilet, just before my supper came spilling out.

And came out... and came out...

When my stomach felt a little better, my head was aching terribly. I knew I had a fever, I'd broken into a sweat but I was shivering. I fell onto the cool tile floor next to the toilet, making sure any exposed part of my skin was touching it.

Charlie entered an hour and a half later. The movement it took for me to look up to him made my tummy mad. I went head first into the toilet bowl, again. Charlie grimaced and turned away. I coughed as I caught my bereath and wiped my mouth with toilet paper.

"I guess you caught a flu from being in the snow for the first time..." he said nervously. "What can I get you?"

"Water," I croaked, my head knocking against the tile again.

Charlie diappeared and returned a few minutes later with a large glass of water, two white pills and a blanket.

"I'll take it you don't want to go to move," He draped the blanket over my legs. "This will make you feel better. I'll call the school. When you can get up you can lie down downstairs." I barely smiled at him and just watched him go. I fell asleep again and woke up an hour later when I heard him leaving. My stomach felt considerably better than the first time I'd woken up this morning. I used the bathtub as a crutch to help me up. I moved into my room to pull on the knit sweater I'd worn yesterday. The pills Charlie gave me helped me break my fever. Now I was in a cold sweat, shivering uncontrollably.

I stumbled down the stairs, my body was very weak. I put the blanket on my head, wearing it like a cape. I flopped onto the couch, pulling my legs up underneath the blanket. I created a lovely room to look out of at the TV.

At 8 o'clock my stomach felt fine, I was no longer freezing cold, but my throat was sore and my nose was running. I stuffed a tissue in my nostrils to keep from having to constantly wipe my nose. I'd also brought a garbage can next to the couch in case my stomach decided to try anymore acrobatics.

I was falling asleep while watching _Saved by the Bell _when I heard the door open. For about a second I thought that it might be Charlie coming home to check up on me, but he hadn't been gone that long and it wasn't really like him to do such a thing. Then I heard him.

"Bella?" he called, he was scared.

"Edward?!" I moaned. I looked out of the small space I had allowed and saw him come running around the corner. He saw me and darted over, kneeling by the couch to look at me.

"What's wrong?" Are you alright?" I smiled weakly at him.

"I've got the flu," I said. God. I sounded like one of those women with a really deep voice who you could tell smoked everyday of her life because of how hoarse she sounds. He smiled sympathetically and kissed my forehead.

"Is there anything I can make you?" he asked.

"Hot chocolate." Edward laughed and moved out of my field of view. After a while I heard the kettle whistling and soon after he came back with a steamy mug of cocoa, marshmallows included.

"Thank you," I whispered. The liquid was hot and soothed my throat. Edward sat at the other end of the couch, pulling an afghan over my legs.

"I shouldn't have let you out in the snow yesterday," Edward mumbled. I could tell he was blaming himself but I just really wanted him to be happy.

"It's not your fault Edward," I propped myself up slightly to look at him. "I had it coming. Living in the sun seventeen years and then jumping in the snow. It was bound to happen." Edward looked down at me and smiled. Then he looked away quickly. He was trying not to laugh but it wasn't working. "Why are you laughing?" He laughed even louder then at my stupidity. He wiped and hand under my nose and snuck a look at me, bursting into more giggles. My stomach lurched again and I leaned over to the grabage can.

"Oh God!" I yelled. I realized then that I still had the tissue shoved up my nose. I pulled it out and let it drop, grabbing another to wipe underneath. Edward burst out into more laughter and I glared at him before breaking into a large fit of dry coughing. Edward smiled and bent over, supporting his weight with his forearms. He was basically lying on top of me, his nose was barely touching mine.

"Still, I shouldn't have let you get sick."

"You can't kiss me!" I said abruptly, placing two fingers on his cool lips. I could see his frustration. "I'm sick, I don't want you to get sick," I said playfully. Edward rolled his eyes and smiled. I took my fingers away and let him kiss me. Edward lay down to my side and let me rest there with him. I fell asleep after a little while of Edward singing in my ear. He was humming my lullaby, a sound I hadn't heard in years.

I woke up and the television was still on, I couldn't feel Edward near me and I didn't see him anywhere. I pulled on long slippers and walked around the house, the afghan draped on my shoulders.

"Edward?" I called. I was feeling considerably better, but not knowing where he was was making me nervous. I went into the kitchen and tied my hair in a sloppy ponytail. I made some chicken broth to help feel better. It was after two pm. I sat down to the table and ate quietly, waiting for any sound of him.

I heard a car pull up and stared at the door, waiting to see who would come in. Edward opened the door carrying a large and beautiful bouquet of flowers. When he saw me he came up smiling and kissed my cheek. He placed the flowers in front of me and smiled widely.

"For you, from everyone and me, they're all hoping you get well soon," he said happily.

"Your family?" I asked in amazement. "Wow... that's so sweet, thank you!" I then noticed a bag in his hand. "Where did you get this anyway?"

"I took a ride to Port Angeles, I got a movie for you to watch too. I think it's better than reruns of shows from the eighties, don't you?" He dropped the movie in front of me. Horror. How lovely. "And look, I got you a popsicle!"

"Yay! ... you went to port Angeles for a popsicle?" Edward laughed at me and went to put on the movie.

"No, Bella, I picked that up here." I giggled.

"Oh, good!" I kissed his cheek and jumped onto his back.

"I take it your feeling better? You seem awfully hyper."

"No, it's just all the cough syrup." He laughed again. "Thank you for taking care of me, I'm alright now. I'm sorry you missed school."

"Don't worry, I've only done it five times." I laughed and rested my head on his lap while the opening credits rolled across the screen. I was very glad it was actually scary, not gory, or I would have been running for the bathroom.

"So Bella, are you all better now?" he asked when the movie was over.

"Yeah," I said truthfully. "I think I'm all better now."

"Good, then you're still going dancing with me, right?" he asked. I groande and buried my face in his shirt.

"I guess... just, don't make me dance too much," I begged.

"That's not a problem," he whispered. "I won't keep you too late either."

"Good," I said. Edward smiled.

"Alice is going to come get you at seven, but I have to leave now." I frowned. "Carlie will be home soon," he warned.

Sighing, I said; "What time is it now?"

"Almost six," he said, pulling on his coat. "I'll see you later." I kissed him softly and watched him form the door as he left. I went upstairs to take a shower. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain white long-sleeved shirt.

When I went back downstairs Charlie was already home. "Oh hey Bella! How are you feeling?" I could tell he was referring to my little display in the bathroom.

"I'm feeling completely fine now, thanks." I sat down and watched him eat a sandwich. "Dad, I actually was wondering if I could go out to a dance tonight. I was invited by my friend. I won't be out too late, I don't want to push it."

"Sure Bella, I guess. That's great you're making friends at school already." I smiled this was going well. "Who's your friend?"

My stomach jumped. "Alice Cullen," I said. "I met her a few years ago, remember?" Charlie nodded his head in acknowledgement. I didn't know what else to do so I went upstairs and started up to computer, deciding to write a letter to Renée.

_Mom, _

_Yesterday it was snowing like crazy! School was even cancelled. It was pretty cool. I went out shoveling and my friend Edward (remember the pictures?) came over to help me. Today I woke up really early really sick. I didn't go to school. But, I took care of myself, I'm all better now. Tonight I'm going with Alice to the christmas dance. I won't push it, no dancing for me. Charlie brought home a christmas tree, too. Like, a REAL one. He cut it down himself. I decorated it. It loks pretty good, I must admit. _

_I miss you, love you, talk to you later._

_Bella._

_P.S. CHARLIE BOUGHT ME A CAR!_

I turned off the computer and stretched out of my bed. I heard a car horn outside. My clock was glowing 7:13. I rushed fown the stiars, gave Charlie a hug and ran out into the car with Alice.

"Are you feeling okay Bella?" she aked immediately as we pulled out.

"I'm fine now, Alice. Just... not so sure about this dancing thing." Oh I wish I'd put up a fight... or something.

Alice just giggled. "Don't worry about it, we're not going to make you dance too much." Then she grinned. "But I _am_ going to make you look amazing."

We pulled up to the big white house and I was once again amazed by it. I wasn't given much time to stare though, as Alice hurried me inside. She ran up the stairs and I really didn't knwo why, but left me in the living room. I turned around slowly and saw Carlisle and Esme looking up at me curously.

"Hi," I said stupidly. They both laughed a little and welcomed me.

"I heard you were sick this morning, Bella. Are you sure you're feeling better now?" Carlisle asked. That was sweet of him to worry about me.

"I was really badly sick early this morning, but I've been resting and drinking lots. I'm feeling as good as new now." Carlisle smiled and nodded.

"That's good you're taking care of yourself," he said. Esme stood up and brought me into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're back dear. Edward seems more like himself and we're all so happy to see you!" I smiled and kissed her cheek.

"I'm very happy to be back!" I replied. Esme sat back down and opened her book. I sat down across from the two, feeling very awkward.

Edward walked into the room, staring at papers he was holding and making little marks with a pen. He was heading for the staircase when he looked up slowly from his paper and turned to the room to look at the three of us.

He, himself, looked stuning to say the least. He had obviously just showered. His hair was in tiny little clumps and ruffled in front of his eyes. He was wearing dark jeans and black dress shoes, topping it off with a black dress shirt that had a small white pinstripe. The dark colors with his skin made him look more godlike than ever before.

"Hi," I said breathlessly. When he saw me a smile lit up his face and he forgot all about where he was going to turn and walk to me. He bent down and gave me a kiss. I was very concious of his parents watching us. He took my hand and stood me up.

"I'm glad you're here," he said quietly. We heard some kind of squeaking from Esme. She was holding her hand to her mouth and looked about ready to cry. "Are you okay, Mom?"

She stood up and gave him a quick hug. "I just... you're so happy again. It makes me happy to see you like this." Assuming from what she was saying, Edward was really upset while I had been gone. Did I have the same kind of effect onhim that he had on me? Whenever he wasn't around I felt like half of myself was missing. I smiled to myself and wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his chest. He kissed my hair and put his arms around me, placing his head on top of mine.

Carlisle stood up and put his arm around Esme. He gave me a quick grin before they left the room.

"Edward!" Alice suddenly screamed. She ran down the stairs and slapped his hands. He jumped away in pain. He looked at her confusedly, his mouth dropped. Alice grabbed my hand and began pulling me away. I looked back at Edward who was just staring at Alice appalled and confused. Then I saw the papers in his were a music score.

Alice brought me into her room and locked the door. Lying neatly on her bed were two dresses. She quickly pulled up one and instucted me to change into it. I went into her bathroom and changed quickly. The dress she gave me had a plunging neckline, but to make up for it it came down to my knees and actually had some sort of a sleeve. It was red and black plaid, made of silk and velvet. It was very Christmassy and I guess I _did_ look nice in it.

I went back into Alice's room and she had changed into a very tight, strapless, emerald green dress with a short, flared skirt and black mesh that peeked out from underneath. She threw a pair of black, round-toed pumps at me. The heels weren't too high, I might not kill myself in them. I grimaced at Alice's. They were intimidating strappy, silver centimeter stiletto heels. I couldn't figure out how she wasn't falling out of them.

"Sit here," Alice instructed, pointing me to a chair in front of a large, antique vanity. Alice began brushing my hair, pulling at tangles and knots. I clenched my eyes shut against my scalp being ripped off my head. After a while the brush went through smoothly. She then pulled out a can of hairspray and a curling iron. She would lightly spray my hair and go through it with the iron, leaving uniform, wavy curlings tumbling over my back. She parted my bangs to the side so they fell over my forehead and one eye in a way she called "sexy and mysterious."

Alice then spun me around on the stool I was perched upon, causing me to nearly fall over. She gave me nearly blood red lips and a smoky eyes with dark liner. When I looked at the finished product in the mirror I gasped. I was beautiful! I felt like I _might_ be up to par with Rosalie and Alice. But then again, that was wishful thinking on my part. The thought of me resembling those two brought up the idea of life as a vampire.

My immediate thought was Edward. I could then be his equal, no more carefully laid boundaries. And, with the immortality thing, we could be together _forever_. I wouldn't have to grow old and die while he lived on, yound and seventeen forever. I then scoffed. _I _thought it was a good idea. Let's see me try and convince anyone else.

Alice suddenly grabbed my hand, making me jump out of my train of thought. She had quickly flipped out the ends of her hair and put on some silver eye liner.

"Come on, the dance is starting soon!" she exclaimed. I grinned at her excitement. We reached the top of the stairs when she let out a loud "AHEM!" Rosalie came to her side. She looked stunning, especially next to me. Rosalie was wearing a fluttering dark blue dres with small starps. Her light blonde hair was piled onto her head with corkscrew curls.

Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Jasper had gathered at the foot of the stairs. They stared up at the three of us and smiled. Jasper was wearing a black dress shirt with a snow white tie. He held out a hand when Alice descended to meet him. Emmett was wearing black dress pants and a dark red shirt, of which he left the first few buttons open. Rosalie glided down the stairs into his arms.

I started to make my way down when Edward entered and my heart stopped. Why was he so beautiful? I'm not complaining or anything, but is it so good for my health?! He had only added a black blazer to his outfit, but he was just so gorgeous. When he saw me he stopped dead in his tracks and stared open mouthed at me. I grinned and blushed as I walked to him.

He held me close to him by my waist and grinned down to me. "You look absolutely beautiful," and then he gave me a great big kiss, right in front of his _entire_ family. _That_ was received by loud hooting from Emmett, giggles from Esme, an "Awww..." from Alice and chuckles from Carlisle and Jasper. Rosalie was shooting kinves at me with her eyes. It was scary.

"Come _on_ you guys! I don't want to be late!" Alice persisted. We all went outside. Edward, Alice, Jasper and I took Carlisle's Mercedes while Rosalie and Emmett climbed into her BMW.

The school was packed. Everyone trying their best with nice cars, I guess. We walked over to the gym. There were flashing lights, Christmas lights, and red and green flood light, but nothing too over the top. Silver snowflakes hung around the gym. Also, a few tiny trees were placed in corners and walls.

As soon as we walked in I felt sick again. Nothing like walking into a germ infested population of teenagers after throwing up all morning. My legs got weak again, and I was leaning heavily on Edward.

"Bella?" he asked. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?" He was so sweeet. He sat me down on the stage and stared at me carefully. I then noticed he was standing in between my legs. I thanked Alice once again that the dress was not too revealing.

"I'm okay, Edward, I just don't think I can handle this for too long. No fast dancing for me at least." He grinned mischeviously.

"I'm expecting every single slow dance then." I grimaced.

"I mentioned I can't dance already, right?" I really wish I wasn't here.

"Yes, and _I_ already mentioned I could!" He was smiling so happily, there was no way I was getting out of this. Edward simply turned around and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, leaving my head on them too. He turned to kiss my cheek and I kissed his. Then I saw Jessica and Lauren 'dancing' by us. They seemed to be trying too hard. They stared, all-too obviously at Edward. But he was leaning back and staring up at me.

Then, I saw Mike. Once he made eye contact he came running and smiling. I dropped my gaze and very carefully studied a button on Edward's shirt. I even poked at it a little with my finger. Edward noticed what I was trying to avoid, I heard a small growl. I looked at him in astonishment. His expression turned innocent and he looked away sheepishly. But, as Mike approached, he turned back to look at him angrily.

"Hey Bella!" Mike said over the loud music. "How've you been? I missed you in school today." I saw Mike's eyes nervously darting back to Edwards. I couldn't really understand why he was here. The way we were sitting should've been reason enough to stay away, or suspect soething between us at least.

"Oh I'm a lot better now," I was starting to get tired of saying this. "Thanks for your concern." I didn't want to be _too_ mean, but I also wanted him to leave. Edward on the other hand was letting up. He looked like something dead and rotting had walked up to us. Then, the song changed, turned into a slow dance. The awkward single friends came over to the stage to sit down, while the couples put their arms around each other and woblled back and forth, calling it dancing. Then I saw the Cullens, moving across the floor like celebrities. Rosalie's dress was billowing around her and Alice moved so well with Jasper. The other people on the floor cleared out a space in the middle for them. My stomach felt sick. I certainly hoped that wasn't what Edward was planning on doing with me.

"Oh," Mike said when the music had changed. "Bella, do you want to uh... dance with me?" My eyes widened. Um... hello? Did he see who I was with? How the guy I was with was standing up between my legs and looking at him very angrily.

"Actually Mike," Edward began, saving me. "Bella has already agreed to dance with me tonight." Mike's face dropped.

"Okay... well maybe some other time." He waved and ran across the gym to find someone else to ask. I sighed in relief. Edward turned around and smiled at me warmly. He shrugged out of his blazer and stretched.

"Ready?" he asked. I groaned.

"I was hoping you were joking," I mumbled. He laughed at me.

"Not a chance," he reached into his jacket pocket "I got you something," he added. I saw him pull out a small plastic box. Inside was a small white corsage made of white roses and baby's breath. So _thats_ why he went to Port Angeles. I smiled at him as he slipped it onto my wrist.

"Aw, you're so cheesy!" I said, putting my arms around his neck and kissing his lips. He quickly lifted me off the stage. I moaned in protest as he led me out to the middle of the gym. "I really can't dance!" I tried again. He just gave me the crooked smile I thought was so beautiful and lifted me onto his feet. I blushed badly. He placed one of my hands on his shoulder and put his on my waist.

"This is just until you get used to it," he whispered. I sighed and tried not to fall off.

"I feel like a little kid," I laughed.

"Then what does that make me?" he whispered in my ear, sending shivers throughout my entire body.

"Let's see, that would make you the perverted old man." Edward thought for a moment before letting out a small chuckled.

"That seems about right." I laughed loudly at him. Maybe he was trying to make me feel less sick.

When the song ended Edward led me back over to the stage. Alice came over to chatter with me and Edward stared out over the crowd.

"Honey," I said, leaning down to whisper in his ear. "Why don't you go and dance with your family? I don't want you ruining your fun by staying here with me all night."

He looked up at me and frowned. "I'm enjoying my time with you," he explained. Alice gave him a shove.

"Go dance, Edward! Let Bella and I talk!" He sighed and quickly kissed my cheek before running out to find his siblings. Alice and I both laughed when we saw him and Emmett dancing a bit like bad hip-hop stars in music videos. (Imagine booty pops and party boys.) Rosalie and Jasper were clutching their stomachs from laughing so hard. I couldn't help but laugh myself. It seemed so unusual for two people like them to act that way. They both stopped and looked at each other. They laughed and shook their heads and walked to the side.

"Bella," Alice began, pushing herself onto the stage. "Do you love my brother?"

I turned to her. I didn't understand. "Of course I do, with all my heart." She rested her head on my shoulder. "I really believe that he's the only one for me." Alice smiled.

"What would you be willing to give for him?" she asked quietly. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to answer that. It made me think again of becoming a vampire.

"Anything," I replied. Alice giggled and sat up to stare in my eyes. "Why Alice? Did you see anything?" She winked and skipped back through the dance floor. "Alice!" I called, but she wasn't listening. I ran out after her but lost her in the crowd.

The song ended and another slow one began. I cried out of frustration but began coughing all over again. I felt a cool hand take mine. I spun around in surprise. Edward was standing there smiling at me.

"I'm glad I didn't have to drag you back here again," he said, pulling me up in his arms.

I wrapped myself around his chest and breathed in his beautiful scent. "Yeah..."

"Is something wrong?" he asked. I laid my ear against his chest and could only heart his breathing, in and out. The coolness of his body made me feel better.

"I'm not feeling so great," I murmured. "But, I think I'll manage." Edward stopped and leaned back to look at me. He placed a cool hand on my cheek and it felt _so good._ Much better than my burning skin.

"You do feel warmer than before, do you want me to take you home?" I shook my head. I stepped off his feet and took his hand. I led him into the dance he'd begun, showing him that I picked up. He smiled and then took back the lead. When the song finished he brought me back to the stage. I leaned on it, letting it support all my weight. I had a cold sweat again and my legs felt weak. The heat in my face had gone, but I was coughing badly.

"Come on," Edward said seriously. "I'm bringing you home." I nodded and took his hand. Edward waved to his family and I hurried him outside. Once we got out I felt much better. I leaned against the brick wall of the fym and took in deep breaths of the cold winter air. It was such a relief to breathe and not have it catch in my throat. A reliefe to stop coughing.

"Wheres your coat?" Edward asked, his velvety voice breaking the wintery silence. I notice then that my teeth were chattering and I was holding my freezing arms. I looked up at him from underneath my bangs that were covering one eye.

"I forgot it," I said. I hoped I looked sexy and mysterious like Alice had said, I felt like crap. I must've looked liked something as Edward's eyes seemed to glaze over when he saw me. He tok a second before walking over, putting his blazer around my shoulders. I leaned onto him and closed my eyes. He was holding me with one arm, having him so close felt good. I sighed heavily. When I opened my eyes again Edawrd was looking at me worriedly. I smiled warmly to reassure him. He gave me the crooked smile, the one I liked the best and then bent down to give me a kiss. We both turned to look up at a bright, full moon. The night was clear but the light shining down was so bright, we could hardly see any stars.

"Lets get you home," Edward said finally. I nodded sleepily and Edward picked me up, carrying me into his car. He played soft, classical music while we drove and didn't say a word. He carried me up to the door again and I reached down to open it. My legs were weak and my head ached. My neck was starting to pain from just supporting my head.

When Edward walked through the living room Charlie saw me in his arms and jumped up in shock and fright.

"What hapened? What's wrong with her? Why are you here?" Charlie began the Spanish Inquisition. Ugh. No one suspects the Spanish Inquisition.

"Dad..." I moaned groggily. Edward shushed me quietly. The sound was soothing to my aching head.

"Chief Swan, Bella wasn't feeling well again and I didn't want my sister to have to leave, so I offered to bring her home. She's tired and her legs are weak, so I'm bringing her in," Edward was good at fast fabrication of stories.

He made his way to my room without any directions from Charlie or myself. He very gently laid me down on my bed. He passed my pyjamas to me and lightly kissed my forehead. "Charlie's gone to get you some more medicine, I'll see you later." He winked at me and started to leave. I sleepily blew a kiss to him. He smiled and pretended to catch it.

I heard Charlie thank Edward and pologize. Edward said it was no problem at all and they exchanged goodnights. Charlie came back up the stairs and passed me a glass of water and two of the same white pills. He waited until I'd taken them both before leaving the glass on my night table and pulling the blanket over me. I was much too tired to change into my pyjamas.

After a while my nose stopped liking me and I had to breathe through my mouth. Edward crawled in next to me and kissed my neck lightly.

"Goodnight," I murmured.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered.

**A/N: This is the longest chapter in the entire story so far, believe it or not. unless I can't read numbers correctly... So there she is. Is it not awesome that this is the seventeenth chapter, being updated on my seventeenth birhtday:D And, this date in Twilight was the day that Bella was in the car accident (January 25th) I feel really bad about writing christmas stuff a month after christmas, but whatever. its my story!! And, if anyone has watched the Monty Python TV show, they should get the Spanish Inquisition thing. I thought it was funny. I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes. I think I'm turning dyslexic. When I was typing up what was written, I remembered parts that I had supposedly written, but they weren't on the paper. **

**Did everyone download the songs I suggested? ( aren't they pretty...) hhaaha...**

**Review please! ...For my birthday?!**


	18. Holly and the Ivy

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Pretty soon theres going to be more of a plot:O!**

**And lets face it. Everyone has done the bra thing Bella does at one point of another. Haha.**

**I had another snow day today, so im updating this for you, even though this is technically after school!**

**I'm also going through the proess of editing the previous chapters, making sure they're the same way and all correct. **

**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Holly and the Ivy **

I woke up in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes out of the anger of being awake. I stared up at my window and could see the red and green christmas lights softly shining through my curtains.

"Are you awake Bella?" I looked and Edward was leaning forward in my rocking chair. He had changed his clothes since we'd been at the dance. He was wearing a blue sweater. It made him look warm and cuddly. I saw then that my covers were at my ankles and the skirt of my dress was riding up nearly to my waist. I blushed and sat up in my bed.

"I'm sorry you had to leave the dance because of me," I whispered and I pulled on pyjama pants underneath the dress. Edward looked down to the floor, giving me a little bit of privacy.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "I wouldn't want to be there without you." I pulled my shirt on over my head. He looked up as I slipped out of the dress from underneath it. The dress fell to the floor. He moved up and over to sit on the bed with me. "Did you think I'd just send you home in a taxi? Where ever you are I am." I smiled.

"I'm not done undressing, dear." Edward's mouth opened and closed. He was lost for words. I grinned and pulled my bra out of one sleeve of my shirt. His eyes widened and he tried not to look at it. He could be like a little kid sometimes.

"Are you sure you're done now?" he asked as I lay back down, pulling the blankets up to my chin. He lay down next to me and kissed my neck lightly.

"Yep," I replied. I looked up to kiss him quickly. "I love you." I wanted to say it as much as possible, just so he knew for sure that I did.

"I love you too," he whispered.

* * *

When I woke up, it was late in the day. The sun was shining in, you could say. I got up and stretched, feeling completely better. When I peeked out the window there were pretty, small snowflakes falling down. _This_ was more like one of my after school specials. Charlie was downstairs listening to old Christmas songs while he wrapped presents. 

"Morning Dad," I said. He looked up and smiled.

"How are you feeling today Bella?" he asked. I sat down by him and watched him wrap. There were already presents under the tree.

"Alot better, thanks. Are you going visiting today?" He nodded his head.

"It's Christmas Eve, so if I don't get them out tonight I don't get them out at all."

"Do you have to work today?" I asked. That would really suck. I always thought it was terrible to work on Christmas.

"I have to go in for a while," he said, looking at me sadly. "It shouldn't be too long, though." I looked over at all the brightly wrapped presents under the tree.

"Billy and Jacob dropped off a gift for you," he said. "And your Mom and Phil's came yesterday." Cool. Presents. My book and sweater that I'd gotten him were sitting there next to the gifts from his friends at work.

"I might go out later, if that's alright," I said, heading up to get dressed.

"Just be careful on the road," he called. I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a red sweater. I pulled on a black zip up over it, pulling up the sleeves to reveal the long sleeves of red. I tied my hair into pigtails, limp ones that lay over my shoulders lazily. My bangs were still doing the mysterious thing.

I made my bed and hung up the Alice dress. I threw my dirty laundry into a basket and brought it downstairs to put on a load. While I was folding what was already there something broke its way into my thoughts.

What was I going to get Edward for Christmas...

I started to hyperventilate, a lot. I really had no clue. Maybe I could give him my favourite book? Ugh. Think Bella! He's over a hundred years old, he's definately read it already.

I ran back up to my room and searched around for anything I could give him that would have some sort of meaning. A picture? No... a lock of hair! That was just creepy. Then I stumbled across a CD Phil had helped me burn a while back. It was all of my favourite songs. This was it. It didn't matter that Edward wasn't completely fond of modern day music, these songs were _good_. I knew he'd like them.

I darted down the stairs again and picked up some of the wrapping paper and scissors. Upstairs I took a sheet of looseleaf and cut it to the size of the CD case. Its title was now _Songs I like That You Should Too_ and on the back I'd quickly written down the song names and artists. I wrapped it neatly and plainly. It was one of those jobs that screamed 'oh-so-obviously a CD.' I wondered if sticking a giant bow on top would throw him off.

Once I was satisfied at my work Charlie was just leaving. It was around one. I walked around anxiously and cleaned where I could, tidying the living room, washing the dishes. When I changed over the laundry again there was a knock at the door. I went out to answer it, tidying the porch as I went. Charlie's Christmas songs were still playing and I wished they weren't.

I opened the door to the faces of five vampires. I was stunned. They all walked in and I just stared at them wide eyes as they passed. Carlisle, Esme, Alice and even Jasper. At the end was Edward. He came up smilling and kissed me as soon as he could. He pulled the door out of my hand and closed it behind him.

"We came to visit you on Christmas!" he said matter-of-factly.

"I was going to visit you..." I said quietly.

"Well we beat you to it!" Alice said from the foot of the stairs. "Your room is still really great, Bella." I smiled and sat down in a chiar. Edward lifted me out and placed me on his lap.

"We brought you presents!" Alice added happily. My eyes widened.

"Presents? You guys didn't have to, I don't have anything for you!" Esme smiled and shook her head.

"We don't usually celebrate Christmas, dear. Let us spoil you."

"Alright." The boys chuckled as I was passed a box from Alice. I tore off the beautiful wrapping. The box said Victoria's Secret. I wasn't sure if I should let Edward see what was in it.

"This is from Esme and I," Alice chirped. I opened it up to find a silky, lacey babydoll. One I never would've bought in a million years. I was supposed to wear this to sleep? Sort of? I looked up wide eyed to see Alice grinning like a mad woman. Edward took in a deep breath from behind me.

"Mmm, when do we get to try that on?" he whispered in my ear. I blushed so badly I thought something might rupture. I quickly dropped the box to the floor.

Edward chuckled softly and I nervously cleared my throat. "This is from Jasper and I," Carlisle said as he passed me a present. I noticed that Jasper was sitting as far away as possible. He smiled at me but I imagined he was trying to be on his best behaviour.

"Thank you," I murmured. Carlisle just grinned at me. I ripped off the paper, ribbons and bows to come face to face with an old, leather bound book.

"It's an original copy of Jane Austin's work," Carlisle explained. My jaw fell off its hinges. "I'd heard that you were a fan. And, since I was around in that time, I was sure to have a copy."

"Oh thank you so much!" I said, throwing my arms around him and Esme. I looked to Jasper but he merely raised a hand and laughed a little.

"It's okay, I get the point." Alice was staring out the window and smiling.

"It's still snowing a little," she murmured. We all turned to her. "Pretty." She looked down at Jasper and then both of them grinned.

"We bet we can build a snowman faster than you two," Jasper directed to Carlisle and Esme.

Carlisle nodded. "Alright then, let's see who can." The four raced to the door and around to the backyard. I ran over to the window and peered out at them. They were quickly creating large snowballs for the body. I giggled, watching them run around was unusual and amusing.

"I have something for you," Edward whispered in my ear. I yelped and jumped, turning to face him. He had me pinned between the window and him... again. There was no escape for me, though I _really _didn't mind. Edward leaned in and kissed me. I tried to behave but he _is_ an absolutely gorgeous boy... man... vampire! That's the one.

Edward reluctantly pulled away from me and presented a present from behind his back. It screamed 'oh-so-obviously a CD' and the giant bow on top didn't throw me off at all. I let out a loud laugh and Edward looked at me confusedly. I ran over to the kitchen counter and picked up my gift for him. I passed it to him and took mine, giggling. Edward laughed too when he saw what I'd given him.

"I wonder what it is?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I was _going_ to put a bow on top, so you surely wouldn't be able to tell what it was... but... I didn't." Edward laughed. It was a beautiful musical sound.

"I wasn't going to, but Emmett got it before I left." I nodded my head in understanding. Emmett was quite a character. I motioned for us to both open the gifts. Because this was Edward's gift I didn't want to completely rip it to shreds. But when my attempts to save the paper went nowhere I wound up ripping it off anyway.

It was a CD (surprise surprise). The cover was snow white with small blue swirls that I'm sure formed some sort of picture. Then I noticed in the bottom right corner were the elegantly written words 'I Love You.' My eyes teared up. I opened the case and saw a plain CD. On the back of the cover were the words 'For my love, Bella. Edward.' On the back of the case was Edward's name on the top and a list of about ten songs and their length. I noticed two that were called. _Esme_ and _Your Lullaby_. I smiled at it. It was the last song on the CD. I wiped a tear that was threatening to escape.

I looked up to see Edward grinning at the back of the cover. He was chuckling softly to himself. I put my arm around him and leaned in to look at it as well.

"See anything you like?" I asked. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me even closer to him.

"You have very good taste," he commented. "But... The Backstreet Boys?" I giggled.

"It's a catchy song," was my arguement.

"I'm glad in your choice of songs by The Cranberries. Especially this one." He pointed to the last song on the CD. It was _I Love You._ I looked up at him.

"Yeah well... It's only the truth." He grinned and kissed me. It was a sweet, short kiss and I desperately wanted it to continue.

"I wish you hadn't gotten me a gift," I mumbled. "But I really do love it." I went and and took out the Christmas songs and put on my lullaby. I sat down in the chair and closed my eyes as I listened to it. Edward lifted me up and lay down on the couch, me on top of him. I looked up into his beautiful ochre eyes. Then I noticed there were strings and a rhythm section playing along with the usual piano.

"Ooh it's all fancy now," I said softly. Edward laughed and began rubbing my back.

"That's what I was working on when you came over last night."

"I see," I wrapped my arms around his waist as tightly as I could. I pushed myself up and quickly kissed his cheek. He smiled and lifted my face up with one finger under my chin and kissed my lips. It was then that Alice tapped at the window and called for us to go outside.

Edward made sure I was bundled up warm and tight. In the backyard two _enormous_ snowmen had been erected. They consisted of the standard three ball body, but practically all the snow in the background was gone. Both snowmen were perfect. Completely in proportion to each part of their bodies, and actually round. Their faces had been created of stones from who knows where and they had perfectly shaped branches for arms.

"Wow," was the only word I could find. Edward nodded to agree with me. Esme and Carlisle stood next to theirs proudly. Alice and Jasper looked theirs over before exchanging high fives and a hug.

"So, who was finished first?" I asked. Both groups grew silent.

"Well..." Alice began. Obviously she, and no one else had paid too much attention.

"I'm almost certain that they did," Esme spoke up. Carlisle nodded and put his arm around Esme as they began to walk down the driveway. Alice clapped happily and jumped on Jasper, knocking him into the snow. Both of them laughed loudly and rolled around, lightly kissing one another. I smiled to see them acting so carefree and took Edwards hand before realizing it. I'd never notice how cute those two looked together.

Edward was chuckling behind me.

"What?" I asked, turning to face him.

He looked at me surprised like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Carlisle's thoughts. They... let Alice and Jasper win. They actually finished first." I laughed with him before jumping on him, making him fall into the snow. Then I jumped up and ran away as fast as possible in winter boots.

Edward's hand were around my waist in seconds. he swung me around him and had his nose hidden underneath my ear, making my heart have its own little moment.

"Come over and visit with us for a while," he whispered. I nodded and took his hand as we walked to his car. Carlisle and Esme sat in front and I barely saw Jasper and Alice race ahead in a blur.

We arrived at the big, white house quickly. In the daylight their home almost completely faded into the snow. But, the dark evergreens in the surrounding woods made it stand out in the foreground.

Edward let me inside and in the middle of the open floor plan was a _gigantic_ tree, covered in red and gold decorations. It looked like something out of a designer magazine.

"Whatever happened to 'we don't celebrate Christmas?'" I asked jokingly.

Edward looked away innocently. "Like Esme said, we wanted to spoil you." He turned back to me and flashed a breath taking smile.

"Okay... I guess." Edward leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss before we went upstairs to his room. He put the CD I'd given him into his intimidating system. The first song came on and I felt embarrassed. This was _my_ music he was listening to now. I sat down and played with the ends of my sweater. the first song was _Stay Together For The Kids_ by Blink 182. The song had always been one of my favourites, ever since I had been young and just starting to enjoy music. It was only years after that I'd even learned it was about divorce and then I felt completely different when listening to it. Edward stared out the glass wall for a while, listening to the words. He obviously knew the meaning right away. He wasn't slow like me.

The song came to an end and _The Long and Winding Road_ by The Beatles started to play. Edward turned back to me and his eyes seemed very happy. My head was resting on the back of his couch and I felt my eyes drooping tiredly. It was ridiculous, really. I shouldn't be tired at all. Lately I'd been ready for a nap any time. Edward sat next to me.

"I love you," he whispered without having a reason to say it, besides the simple fact that he did. I found myself reaching up to touch his cheek. His cold skin felt so flawless underneath my hand. It was hard and he closed his eyes and leaned into my hand.

"I love you too," and then I attempted to give his unruly hair some kind of order by running my fingers through it and tucking it in places behind his ears. After it all he just looked funny. He grinned at me when he saw me covering my mouth to hide a smile and laugh. And, in the end I just wound up snorting loudly.

Edward shook his head, letting his bronze locks fall all over the place again. Beautiful. He leaned over me and stradled me, forcing me to lie down before his pushed me down. He was almost lying on top of me, his weight was supported by his arms and legs and his body was nearly touching mine. My eyes involuntarily closed and then I realized I may not open them again.

"Bella?"

"Mmm?"

"How can you love me?" he asked.

"Easy," I replied. "You're just so darn cute." I reached up and pinched his cheek, like the crazy fat Aunts with lots of makeup do to you when you're little. (Except when I did it it was basically holding the apples of his cheeks and shaking his head back and forth.)

"Bella..." he complained, laying his body on mine. I did hear a few airy laughs at the same time.

"I don't know how to explain," I whispered, trying to keep my breathing semi-regular as he kissed my neck and collar bone. "My whole life I was never on the same page with anyone, no one really clicked, or completely understood me." I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me. "When I met you it all sort of made sense. You're the only person I've ever felt like this for."

Edward smiled and bent down to give me a swift kiss. "Why do you love me?" I asked. "I'm only a human."

"You are the most amazing woman I've ever met in quite a long time," he began. He seemed a little confused that I didn't understand why he should love me. "It's not only that you're amazingly delicious. You're the only person who I think can understand me, and can help me when I need it. That, and your absolutely gorgeous." He then resumed his kissing.

I snorted. "I'm nothing compared to a vampire." Edward let out a playful growl and I giggled.

"I still can't understand how you're not afraid of me..." I slid out from underneath him and walked across the room. He was lying on the couch looking sad and lonely.

"I'm supposed to be afraid?" I asked, trying to sound clueless. "But you're just like a big fluffy kitten!" I moved back towards the couch and Edward had a look on his face, one I couldn't exactly decipher.

"A kitten," he scoffed, sounding offended. "My dear, you obviously have no idea what I am."

"Edward..." I warned; he was flexing his back legs, ready to pounce. I clenched my eyes shut and my body tensed. I felt him grab me and we landed back on the couch. I opened my eyes to find myself lying on top of him. He held one of my hands and the other was wrapped around my waist.

"Now... what were you saying?" he asked. I sighed and rolled my eyes up at him.

"You're a terrifying, hideous monster." It was thick with sarcasm. I knew he didn't believe a word. I never meant it.

"That's much better,' he murmured. We lay there listening to the CD, discussing the pros and cons of each song. When it was over we both let out a sigh.

"EDWARD!" Alice scremed, although it was very unnecessary. "GET DOWN HERE NOW PLEASE." Edward groaned and we sat up. He gave me a quick kiss and took my hand, leading me down the stairs. All of the Cullens were gathered around his piano.

"Let's sing carols!" Alice squealed, pulling me away from Edward. He sat down at the piano, opening a book of Christmas carols and began playing. All of the Cullens began to sing. They sounded like a chorus of angels. I sang along with them softly, paling in comparison to their voices. We sang throughout the afternoon, having a good laugh everytime Emmett went for a solo. By the time we finished Rosalie didn't seem as surly, and everyone was in a lighthearted mood. I glanced out the window and there was no light anywhere in the sky.

"I should probably get home now, Charlie might be back," I said to Edward. He nodded and we left for his car. He drove me home and we talked happily about the songs we'd been singing. Edward pulled into my driveway and waited for me to climb out. I undid my seatbelt and stared up at the meager lights Charlie had hung. When we'd left the Cullens' house I'd seen their lights. The roof was covered in net lights and multi-coloured icicle lights hung off the ends. The colours against the white of the house made it shine brightly and beautifully. The trunks of the trees were covered in white lights and coloured lights hung in orderly fashion from the branches. It looked beautiful. I looked over to Edward and he had been staring at me. We both leaned over to kiss.

"I'll see you later," he whispered. I smiled as I climbed out of the car. When I got back inside Charlie was sitting and watching sports news.

"Hey," he called. "I guess you did go out." I nodded and sat next to him.

"Did you have a good time today?" I asked. Charlie nodded happily. He turned on a Christmas movie, one I'd watched since I was little. We sat there with each other and watched, eventually making old fashioned popcorn and Charlie even broke out some eggnog.

We both went to bed after the movie, feeling sleepy enough to not be too excited while we were in bed. I made sure to bring the babydoll Alice and Esme had given me upstairs, so that Charlie wouldn't see it. I crawled into bed, a small bit of excitement setting in for Christmas day. Edward came into my room a little while after and showered me with kisses. I giggled. He was in a good mood.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked. He laughed quietly.

"It's almost Christmas!" I laughed at him. "Santa's coming!"

"Stop it!" I whined. "Santa's not real!" Edward gasped, his face appalled. We both laughed at his reaction then and he lay down next to me. I buried my face in his chest as he did in my hair and fell asleep peacefully.

* * *

I woke up amazingly early, seven o'clock early. It was still dark outside, just how I liked my Christmas mornings. I rean into Charlie's room and screamed that it was Christmas before running down the stairs. 

He came down laughing. He'd never experienced his own little kid at Christmas. I was definately giving him this one. I gasped at every gift he opened and gave an exaggerated: "Waaaaoooooooowww!" Charlie laughed at me like I was a regulare comedian. I felt really good to be making him laugh. Billy and Jacob had given me accesories for my car and all the good cleaning things I'd need for it. Phil had sent me a CD of his favourite band (it never screamed oh-so-obviously a CD. He was smart enough to put it in a different box). He also sent me a gift certificate for clothes. Mom had sent me more gift certificates and a new digital camera. Charlie gave me a photo album, in addition to the fact that he'd gotten me a car.

It was a great morning and when I started making waffles for our breakfast there was a knock at our door. Charlie went to answer it and I listened carefully.

"Good morning!" Charlie called to them. I could hear them come in and Charlie ushered them through. I peered over my shoulder but had to turn back to the pancakes just as they came in. "Bella! Look who came to visit." I took the pancakes out of the pan and turned around. There were Carlisle, Esme, Edward and Alice. They were all smiling at me like they knew something I never.

"H-hi!" I said nervously. I was standing in front of them in my old pyjamas. "Merry Christmas!" They all wished us a Merry Christmas. Esme placed a jug of somethign on the counter.

"I made eggnog for you two! Just feeling in the holiday spirit I suppose!" Charlie smiled and took it to place in the fridge.

"Thank you very much!" he exclaimed. I could tell he was getting worked up over the pretty girls. I noticed Edward was eyeing me, but we were both trying to be careful in front of dear old Dad. Charlie showed Carlisle and Esme around the house while Alice peeked at the presents under the tree. I turned back to make more pancakes. I felt Edward when he came up and placed his cool lips on my neck.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered. I smiled and thanked him, turning back to kiss him softly. When we heard our parents coming back we quickly snapped out of it standing upstaright and innocent.

"Will you be staying for a while?" Charlie asked. He at least had been smart enough to get dressed when I'd started making breakfast. Carlisle shook his head.

"We'd love to but we only dropped by for a short while. Alice wanted to see Bella today." Charlie nodded and Alice grinned. Edward gave me a look that seemed to read _She wasn't the only one._ I giggled a little and waved to them as they left. Charlie and I sat down to our breakfst, thoroughly enjoying our first Christmas together.

* * *

**A/N: I have a big fluffy kitten. Except shes not Edward. And she's not big :S haha I hope you enjoy and I shall start writing the next chapter immediately!**

**Surprisingly, this chapter is shorter than the last two! It took me the longest to write and type!**

**A picture of the babydoll is in my profile :3 because its fun haha**

**And, just for fun:**

**(theres nothing to new because this is supposed to be the end of 2004, remember? If anything IS past that date, then woops. I dont care haha)**

**SONGS I LIKE THAT YOU SHOULD TOO.**

**Stay together for the kids - Blink 182**

**The Long and Winding Road - The Beatles**

**Red Sky - Thrice**

**Zombie - The Cranberries**

**Torn - Natalie Imbruglia**

**Don't Speak - No Doubt**

**I Just want you to know - The Backstreet Boys**

**Psychobabble - Frou Frou**

**Mad World - Gary Jules**

**Electric Blue Eyes - The Cranberries**

**The Tide - The Spill Canvas**

**Crooked Teeth - Death Cab For Cutie**

**Oh me, Oh my - Imogen Heap**

**Norwegian Wood - The Beatles**

**Andy You're A Star - The Killers**

**The Dutch Courage - The Spill Canvas**

**The Moment I Said It - Imogen Heap**

**Cheers Darlin' - Damien Rice**

**I Love You - The Cranberries**

**Thank you all! and please review! Eggnog is the best.**


	19. Accident Prone

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! This next chapter is fairly short. But, there is a reason. You see. This chapter is mainly filler but it dows leave off at an interesting note, of which will lead into the main conflict and CLIMAX of the story (oh snap!) Also, I'm updating this very quickly because the last chapter was a major case of writers block for me, despite the number of people who told me they loved it. I also loved that chapter, but that was only after forcing ideas out of myself. This chapter however was rather easy, and the chapter AFTER it is even EASIER! So I shall begin work on it right away. **

**This is the actual newsy part of this: I'm going away this weekend on friday directly after school and I won't be back until Sunday. If I can manage it with this chapter, I'll update late Thursday night at the latest. (WHICH IS TOMORROW NIGHT) or POSSIBLY Friday afternoon. But, as the case may be, there won't be an update until monday. SO, I'm very sorry to everyone who actualy enjoys reading this on a semi-regular basis. I've had this happen with stories that I read and been nearly ready to rip my hair out.**

**OH! I'm estimating about FIVE chapters LEFT to this story! I DO have an idea for a sequel that I may write as a story anyway, but that all depends on whether or not you WANT a sequel, or want it to end the way it will end. Those five chapters will either include or exclude a BONUS chapter written in Edward's POV of part of the next chapter. That chapter is NOT going to be posted here, because I really don't like changes in pov's. I only used to get Edward's feelings and for effect. (which i think worked :3) The story's almost over!!! I have something like three stories reading to start writing on, and I'mma gonna ask certain people's opinions on which ones i should actually write. heee ENJOY! I'll stop talking now :P (Betelgeuse IS actually a star. My friend pointed it out to me one night when I was lying in the middle of the road, WHICH by the way is an AWESOME way to look at stars. you feel like your head is going to get run over the entire time and they look alot closer.)**

**Chapter Nineteen: Accident Prone**

At New Year's there were fireworks. Charlie went down to help, just like the time I remembered. Edward brought me down to the viewing field and we lay on our backs on the cold ground. The day after Christmas had brought rain. I was given a white holiday, and now it was nearly all gone. I coughed loudly and could very clearly see my breath in the cool air.

There were still a few minutes until the fireworks would start but Edward and I just wanted to lie there. Edward was pointing out stars to me. He would name some like Betelgeuse and Sirius. Then I'd point at one and say it was Jabberwocky or Bandersnatch, the only fictitious names I could think of that I _knew_ weren't stars.

"Look at that one," I said once without moving a hand.

"What one," he asked.

"That one!" Really, sometimes he was so unobservant.

"Oh that one." He was finally playing along. "It's very..."

"Tiny." He nodded and then we both laughed. It was a wonder really that we could even see the stars. I wiggled my legs to regain some warmth. I hadn't completely recovered yet from the flu I had had before Christmas. It came and went in small doses, though I did have a cough frequently.

"Hey Bella! Edward..." _Oh no... here goes the evening._

"Hey Mike, Jess," I said, turning my head to look up at them.

"Why are you guys lying down?" Jessica asked, looking at us like we had three heads.

"It makes watching the fireworks better," I said curtly, hoping my lack of interest would make them go away. Edward took my hand tightly in his comfortingly.

"Really?" _No, Mike. I'm just saying that. I'm actually lying here to somehow get in contact with the mothership. _"Maybe we'll try it." I turned my head to Edward as Mike lay down next to me. I simply crossed my eyes to show my frustration. He grinned at me and squeezed my hand.

Edward sat up and looked over the field. "Bella, Charlie's calling to you," he said. Mike looked at me sadly.

"I guess I'll see you guys later," _but I most definately won't._ "Bye." Mike and Jessica called their goodbyes as Edward led me nowhere near Charlie. Once we were out of sight he scooped me into his arms and raced to the other end of the field.

He set me down and we both immediately began to laugh. "What was he thinking?" I asked.

Edward scoffed "You look nice, smell good, and he hates me with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns, to be exact." I giggled.

"Do you want to beat him up?" I asked. He nodded and plopped onto the grass. We both lay back down and stared up at the sky.. Then, right before our eyes, brightly coloured sparks exploded against the dark night sky. I squirmed my way colser to Edward so that we were pressed against one another. There were several times when either one of us would flinch at the fright of having it fall on us. Whenever it happened we both laughed nervously.

When it was over I could see Mike and Jessica on the other end of the field, looking around cluelessly. Edward took my hand and we headed back to the parking lot. Inside his car it ws warm and comforting as he brought me home.

* * *

It was close to a month later. Charlie was bound to be suspecting something with the amount of time I'd been spending with Edward and, I was pretty close to telling him myself.

As a side effect of a realtionship with a beautiful vampire, we were madly in love with each other, hence, every day we were together. He would pick me up for school. walk me to my classes and sit with me at lunch and bring me home from school. There were only the occasional days when Edward went hunting that we never spent together.

I woke up to my alarm instead of Edward's soft kisses and groaned. Why wasn't he here. Then I remembered. He'd gone for a quick hunting trip last night. I got out of bed merely to stretch my aching muscles. I quickly pulled on my favourite blue sweater (only a favourite because Edward loved it on me) and a pair of dark, nearly black, jeans. I tied my hair into a sloppy ponytail and flicked my bangs into place with my fingers. I made my bed, ate breakfast and cleaned up after myself, all in record time.

There was nothing else I could do to waste any more time so I grabbed my keys and headed out to the car. My stomach dropped when I saw that it was snowing. Didn't we have enough in December? January was almost over now.

I came close to screaming when I started up the truck. There had only been a few times I'd driven her before. I never even noticed the snow chains until Edward pointed them out once. I noticed today that they had been replaced. Charlie must have done it early. IN any case, my ride to school was a bit smoother.

The road was covered in a pristine blanket of snow the entire way to school. Eventually I found it marked and defaced my tire tracks and muddy slush. Underneath that beautiful cover was horribly slippery black ice, a product of the light rain and cooling air. I had slid the entire way down the driveway this morning.

I pulled into the school, noticing less cars than usual. I guess most of my peers were driven this morning. I pulled in next to Edward's volvo and saw him walking towards me from one of the school buildings.

"Good morning sweetheart!" he said happily, pulling me into a warm hug and kissing me lovingly. I sighed. _This_ was musch better.

"I missed you," I whispered. He grinned against my cheek and gave me butterfly kisses as he pulled back to look at me. I saw his bright golden eyes. Oops. There goes my heart. Really, it's just everything about him that will one day cause a fatal heart attack.

"I missed you more," I giggled at him and took his hand, ready to face a new day of school.

Then my world came crashing apart.

Edward was staring behind me looking horrified and I could hear everyone screaming around us. My heart was skipping a beat once I heard the tires squealing and Edward grabbed me. I turned around to see the van spinning wildly out of control towards us.

**A/N: Ah the cliffhangery goodness :3 If there isn't an update tomorrow, then MAYBE friday, and probably monday. or sunday. Thank you all for your lovely reviews last time, please don't forget to review this time! I'll try and update quickly if you do! (Thanks to BroodyBrathan23 for inspiring me to update with her amazing talent of writing three stories and updating on a regular basis. AND if you haven't read her stories you are CRAZY and need to be institutionalized. Seriously.)**


	20. Breaking Apart

**A/N: Hello and welcome back! Thank you for all your lovely reviews, as always, they were great and meant a lot to me. I replied to all of the ones I had something to say to, and if I never, I'm sorry! or your review was very short :3 haha. **

**Theres only a few chapters left to go! Oh noes! I hope you all continue to keep reading until the end! Don't abandon me now!**

**Congrats to the grand total of TWO people who have correctly guessed the story line :3. The rest of you cannot know. Figure it out yourselves if you haven't by now, hahah. **

**I keep forgetting to mention, but I HAVE figured out the "Bellas age is all wrong thing" now. In the US it seems there is a cut off date for the school year, and Bella just made it, whereas in Canada there ISN'T a cut off date. Everyone born in the one year are in the same class. I was born in January, my best friend in December, we're both in the same grade. Isn't that funny? haha... No.**

**So remember the "I have a bonus chapter but im not going to post it" thing? Yeah... Imma gonna post it! Hahah. I like it too much to leave it out. And it cant hurt seeing as how, after it, the rest of the story is in Edward's pov.**

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Chapter Twenty: Breaking Apart **

I didn't know what to do, it was going to pulverise us in a matter of seconds. I, of course, forgot about a little thing called _vampire speed_. Edward grabbed me into his arms and did a running jump away from the oncoming van.

We both landed hard on the pavement. my shoulder taking most of the impact. I heard the van crunch around my truck and then begin to spin back toward us. Edward moved like lightening, pushing me to one side and then bolting upright to take the impact of the car. Small beads of shattered glass rained down on me and Edward quickly covered my body with hisown, shielding them from me. We were now pinned in between my truck and the big mini-van. Edward was taking deep, frightened breaths, our bodies were pressed together in the small space.

"Are you alright?" He asked, frantically looking me over. He pushed the van back behind him and I could see the shape of his body embedded into the metal. He turned and punched out a few parts of it, to make it look less like a human body.

When I tried to move my head the pain from my shoulder shot up into my neck. "I'm only hurt a little, in my neck. nothing serious." Edward frowned at me. I was gasping for air more shocked than scared. It was then that I tuned in the voices of everyone around us, people screaming our names. I could hear them yelling, trying to see if we were still alive. they were struggling to get the driver from his van. Then I heard the sirens as well. I coldn't distinguish between the wailing, I could see the flashing lights, but it was all a blur to me. In the small space surrounding us all I could see was him. His bright eyes had already darkened. Both of his arms were pressed against my truck on either side of my head. The little shards of glass were scattered all around us, threatening to cut me with any movement.

My eyes were watering and I couldn't stop them from pouring out. Edward looked at me with a pained expression. I knew he didnt want me to be so sad. I couldn'st help t. He had just completely risked himself for me. Well... I guess technically its not risking if you can't die. My lips were quivering and he took one of his arms down to touch them lightly with his cool fingers. I threw myself at him, not caring about being careful and ignoring the pain in my neck. I flung my arms around his neck and began crying into his shoulder.

"Bella..." he murmured. I was sobbing so loudly into his arms, I sounded like a banshee. "I's alright sweetheart... I won't ever let anything happen to you." I screamed that I loved him over and over again into his jacket. If it was not for him, I would be dead. The car was moved away enough for a stretcher to come in. I was loaded into the ambulance. Edward came in the back next to me, holding my hand and kissing my fingers. I caught sight of the driver as I was lifted into the back. It was Tyler Crowley. He was _covered_ in blood and I felt sick at the sight and the smell of it.

The hospital was cold and empty when I was wheeled in. Both Edward and I refused medical attention. Edward ran off to find his Father. The second he left I went into another fit of coughing, one that badly hurt my chest. It sent pains through my nack and arm and I fell back onto my pillow, holding my chest.

I stared at the door, waiting for anyone to come and tell me I wasn't dieing. Carlise came running into the room, followed closely by Edward. They both came over to my side and Carlisle quickly looked me over.

"Edward," Carlisle said calmly. "Go and see if Charlie is here and bring him in." I watched him nod and leave and then I felt sick deep in my stomach.

"Bella, where does it hurt?" Carlisle asked. I pointed to my neck and shoulder. Carlisle began testing several spots carefully. Everytime Iflinched from pain he would apologize. I began coughing again badly once he started to write something down.

"How long have you had that cough Bella?" he asked. I shrugged.

"A while. I had the flu a while ago, but it's almost all better now." He looked at me skeptically. He could _tell_ better than I _knew_ whether or not I was sick. "It's nothing serious," I added, hopefully cheerfuly.

He passed me a prescription for my neck. "I want you to come and see me about your cough," he said very much like a doctor. "We'd better take care of it now, than to have it get any worse. And, Edward doesn't need to know."

He smiled and gave me a wink before turning to Tyler as he was carried into the room. The smell of his blood was overwhelming and sickening. I bolted upright and waved goodbye to Carlisle, quickly exiting the room. The sterile, cold, chemical smell of the hallway took away my nausea of the blood. I saw Edward and Charlie turn around the corner and the two immediately ran to me.

"Bella! Are you alright?!" Charlie yelled. I smiled and nodded to him.

"Carlise gave me something for my neck, it's nothing too serious." Edward smiled and puled me into a hug.

"I'm glad," he whispered. Charlie was looking at us both funnily.

"Um, Dad... Edward is my boyfriend. And, he saved me today. He pulled me away from the van before it hit." Charlie smiled at Edward. With the saving of my life it would be too hard to be intimidating scare-your-boyfriend-away Dad.

"It seems as if I owe you a lot," Charlie said laughingly. "Now lets get that prescription put in." I took Edwards hand and we both followed Charlie out into the main lobby.

It was completely packed, which is saying somethign for Forks. The entire school must have been there, teachers included. As we entered everyone grew quiet. The other Cullen children walked towards us, Edward listening to Rosalie and Jasper's mind while Emmett and Alice gave me big hugs. Teachers came up to ask us if we were alright. There wasn't going to be any school for the day, everyone was too shooken up.

"Do you want to go home now, Bells?" Charlie asked me kindly. I hesitated. Going home would leave me with nothing to do. Edward saved me once again.

"Actually, would it be alright for Bella to come with my family and I for the day?" he asked sweetly. "I wouldn't want her to be alone after all this." Charlie kissed a beat in the transition of conversation. Rosalie and Alice were staring at him, probably dazzling him and Edward did with me quite frequently.

"Well I suppose that would be okay." His speech was slightly slurred. "Just be very careful driving and dont go too far." I leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Alice gave him a peck on the cheek as well and we all hurried outside. Edward helped me into his car and Jasper and Alice sat up in the front. Rosalie and Emmett quished in next to us in the back, winding up with Rosalie and I sitting part ways into the boys' laps. Jasper began driving at an alarmingly high speed for the road conditions. I noticed immediately that we were heading out of town.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Edward grinned and kissed my forehead. He was holding me in his arms.

"Not too far," he mumbled.

"By not to far do you mean Port Angeles? Because thats sort of far for your everyday human," I informed him.

"Yes I do mean Port Angeles and you're forgetting that _you're_ the only human here!" I nodded. He had me there. I was drowsy the entire way out, completely zoning out a few times. All six of us would sing along with the radio as badly and we could when the opportunity presented itself, and most of the time Edward and I were mumbling back and forth to each other.

When we got into Port Angeles Jasper pulled up at a pharmacists and ran inside with my prescription, coming back out only minutes later. "It will be ready in an hour," he said, quickly pulling out of the lot and speeding down the street. We pulled up to the mall, and I knew once again what was going to happen. The boys and the girls all split up, Alice and Rosalie bringing me along for a shopping spree.

I was amazed that Rosalie was even being so nice to me. I guess my near-death experience had softened her up a little. They picked out clothes for me, only allowing me to try on a few before quickly purchasing all of the articles. They allowed me a short trip to a bookstore, in which I bought myself one book and snuck a peek of Edward studying a few books while he hadn't noticed me. He too, had bought some clothes.

We met up with the boys by accident somewhere in the mall many stores later. We all took one look at the number of bags on everyones arms and laughed. Edward came up to me and gave me a hug and a much needed kiss.

"I think you guys should go in there next," he said, pointing Alice and Rosalie toward Victoria's Secret. Ooooh he was going to get it when I go ahold of him...

Alice and Rosalie quickly brought me inside grabbing lingerie and other intimates that I _really _didn't need.

"Guys! Why do I need all these! It's not like anyone's going to see them! And what is it with these babydolls? I'm not going to wear them." Alice and Rosalie both laughed at me and began buying things for me and themselves.

"You're going to wear it soon," Alice said, shooting me a wink and a grin. She was up to something. She knew something I never. I wanted to know. But, before i could even begin an interrogation they brought me down to the foodcourt, just in time for my stomach to start growling. I ordered my food and sat back down with the girls, studying the mountain of bags they had placed on a separate table. The boys had found us then, Edward makign a beeline for me. He kissed my forehead and grinned widely when he saw the Victoria's Secret bag. I guess I shouldn't be so concious, Emmett and Jasper saw multiple bags and grinned themselves.

Jasper passed me a white paper bag, my medication. "Thank you!" I said to him, very grateful. I popped two of the pills in my mouth and took a drink of my soda. Once _I_ had finished we picked up our things and went out to the car with them (It was raining outside). What a surpise! Only, not really. Then, we all climbed in and Jasper drove down to the cinema. I was looking forward to seeing a movie with them all again. While the all the vampires present went to fight over the movie and buy the tickets I went back over to the old ticket booth, staring down at the carpet.

"I certainly hope you're not planning on writing your name in there again," Edward said, coming over to stand next to me.

"I was thinking of it, but you'd probably ruin it again." Edward chuckled at me and pulled me into his arms. It felt good to be there, so close to him. I didn't want to break apart as we went into the theatre.

After the movie we drove home, and I promptly fell asleep as we left town. Alice and Jasper were in the back with us this time. I heard snatches of quick conversations, but none of it made sense to me. I drifted away into a deep sleep. Edward woke me up when we pulled into my driveway, and he stayed with me the rest of the evening, right up until I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up feeling very refreshed. Having slept most of the day yesterday it was only expected. I glanced at my clock to see that I only had a few minutes before Edward would be here for me. I hurriedly got dressed and cleaned myself up, eating some toast before running out the door. Edward was waiting in the driveway with his volvo. I grinned as I walked towards him. 

I didn't want to see Edward go when he dropped me off at English. After yesterday I wanted him with me more and more. It was scary to think of how much I loved him, how I _knew_ he was the only one for me. I wouldn't have any other. He was there, after every class, kissing me sweetly before leaving to his own classes.

In Spanish Jessica wouldn't stop asking me about just what happened yesterday. Where did we go after the hospital? How was I saved? I wanted to punch her in the face and run away quickly. My stomach was starting to ache. I felt ready to throw up. If I did I was sure to direct it away from sweet, quiet Angela (in front of me) and direct it towards loud, obnoxious Jessica (to my leff). There was a throbbing pain in my neck that worsened more and more. I felt worse and worse with each passing second. My breathing became harder and I was light headed. I could feel a sweat breaking out all over my body, I immediately raised my hand.

"Can I go to the nurses office?" I asked quickly, too tired to try spanish. I was out of the seat and heading for the door before she even answered me. Walking towards the nurses office outside was better, the cool air settled my stomach but things were patchy. I kept snapping in and out of reality, not remembering why I was there.

When I looked up once, I was walking by the gym. My head automatically turned toward the glass door. I looked in and saw a glass playing soccer. It was impressive, watching them. They actually looked like they knew what they were doing. Well, at least it did to me, unintelligent when it came to sports. Then I saw him. He was running fast, well... slow for him, fast for everyone else. he was dodging in between everyone, the ball always with him. He seemed to jump around one boy and kick, making a missile of the ball into the net. I stared at him wide eyed. He was so beautiful and perfect. His hair fell in front of his eyes and he flicked it away, resembling a greek god in the process. He was breathing heavily and turned his head towards the door where his eyes locked with mine. He smiled and I blushed when I'd been caught. He came up to the door and opened it, leaning out to talk to me.

"Hi Honey," He said, leaning in to kiss me. I had closed my eyes when he did and now they didn't want to open again. I smiled at him as he pulled away, my balance faltering a little. I asked him if he was winning and he smiled an nodded at me. When he asked me why I wasn't in class I wasn't sure If I should tell him. Carlisle had agreed to check me out, I didn't want Edward to worry.

"I wasn't feeling well," I told him. His face grew serious in a second.

"I'm coming with you," he said, turning to get ready to leave.

"No, Edward, don't miss your class. Your team probably definately needs you." We both laughed at it. I didn't want him to miss anymore school, even if it didn;t matter for him. I decided to strike a deal. "How about, I come back and tell you how it went right after I get out."

He said something. I know he did. I could see his lips moving but I never heard a thing. There was a loud buzzing noise in my head as a sharp pain flashed across my neck. All the sounds around me were defeaning. But I couldn't hear him, the one sound I wanted to hear. Everything turned black in front of me and there was a bad feeling in my stomach as I felt myself falling over.

The last thing I saw _must_ have been an angel. Something that beautiful was too perfect for the pain I was feeling now.

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A/N: Sorry for any spelling errors! I was writing this in a hurry to post it. I also have to do a commonplace book now in an hour an da half:O! But, I wanted to get this updated. So, I did! The next chapter is: Falling into my arms. The end of this chapter in Edward's pov. It's all written and ready to go. I'll either post it after school tomorrow or Saturday, if im at my grandparents. **

**review please! They always make me feel better about keeping on going! I even update faster!!**


	21. Into My Arms

**A/N: This is the 'bonus' chapter. It's much shorter than the last and only picks up on the second day of chapter twenty. I really liked the way I wrote Edward in this, he seems more like Edward to me, so I decided to keep it in there. Anyway, thanks for all your lovely reviews, only a few chapters left to go! Depending on what note I leave off on, you'll have to tell me whether or not you want a sequel, otherwise I'm just going to leave it where it ends and write the sequel as another twilight story (because I like the idea :3) **

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Chapter Twenty One: Into My Arms**

I hated having to leave Bella once we were in school for the morning. Yesterday had been such a good day, aside from her almost being killed by an out of control car. That part wasn't that great. But now, I'd only see her in between periods and finally, for nearly a whole hour at lunch. I was sitting in English class, staring at the clock. Waiting. One minute... fifty six seconds...

_Cullen's so frigging lucky... getting the prettiest girl in the entire school. I bet that's all he's thinking about now. _Stupid teenage boys and their stupid teenage thoughts. Honestly. While Bella was the only thing on my mind just then, he made it sound like my thoughts were all dishonorable. I was too angry at him to even notice who it was. And then, at the same time I wasn't so sure why I was so worried about him. One human's thought were so infinitesimal in the big scheme of things. But I guess, it bothered me so because I was so very much in love with Bella, _my_ Bella.

Twelve seconds... The students all began to quickly gather their things into their bags. Our teacher scarcely noticed half of them. The bell rang exactly on queue. I was out of my chair and through the door before anyone even noticed.

I waited outside the door to Bella's Trigonometry class. I tuned out the thoughts of the girls who were leaving or walking by. They didn't matter to me. Instead I focused on one thing, her delicious scent. She came out of the door and looked up to me, instantly smiling. It made my own lips curl to know that I could make her beautiful face even more attractive. I took her hand immediately and bent down to give her a quick kiss.

"How was your class?" I asked as we walked towards her next Spanish class.

"Ugh... Jessica wouldn't stop asking me about yesterday, exactly what happened, where we went after we left the hospital... it was really annoying." I chuckled a little. She was so easily irritated by her own kind. She blushed slightly which only made my grin even lighter. Then, when I looked up, we were already in front of her classroom. I frowned a little. I didn't want to leave her just yet.

I looked at her and she was watching me curiously. I smiled at her which made her heart beat erratically. I suppressed a chuckle as I bent down to quickly kiss her before leaving. When my lips touched hers... they were so warm and she smelt so good, I could've stayed like that the rest of the day. Unfortunately I was forced to break us apart, as she apparently wasn't planning on it any time soon. We would both be late for our next classes if I never.

"Good bye," she whispered as she turned into the classroom. I sighed. That girl was so wonderful. I raced to the gym with a smile on my face, one that stuck while I was changing into the uniform.

We were to play soccer today in class, one sport I would need to be careful about, keeping both my speed and strength in check. the class was divded into two teams, and we were to play a 'tournament' of three games, best two out of three wins. We had three people to each team sitting off at a time. I wasn't planning on sitting off anytime soon. It was easy for me to steal the ball, running with only a fraction of my speed down the court and then shooting into the net. My teammates passed me the ball when they could. And, not to be a 'ball-hog' I'd pass it around. Everyone deserved a chance to play.

I was standing near the net, dodging out from behind Ben who was futilely trying to block me. I ran up and received the ball from another person on my team and ran with it, weaving through my opponents.

_Geez, Cullen must have rockets up his ass or something, I don't understand how he can go so fast for so long..._ I grinned. Whoever it was wasn't unobservant. I'd have to be more careful. I kicked the ball, not too hard, and landed it cleanly in the net. The others cheered, running up to give me a pat on the back or clap my hand, saying a 'good job' or 'awesome' as they went. I smiled and turned to go sit down for my turn.

Then my eyes caught her. I could see her through the glass in the door, staring in. She hadn't been there the entire time, only a little while. She still looked stunning in her plain, black sweater. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail, all around her face. I began to walk towards her, smiling. She blushed, only a little. When I got closer I noticed she was covered in a small sweat. I opened the door to talk to her, she wasn't even wearing her jacket in this cold weather?!

"Hi honey," I said, leaning in to kiss her quickly. She smiled up at me. Her eyes looked sleepy.

"Hi, how's your game going? Are you winning?" I grinned and nodded. "That's good."

"What are you doing out of class in this cold weather?" I asked her. I was hoping that whatever she was doing out here wasn't anything bad. I didn't want her to get into trouble.

"Um..." she hesitated, possibly editing her thoughts. There were a few times when I hated not being able to read her mind. "I was on my way to the nurses office. I wasn't feeling well during class." She wasn't well? Why couldn't I have been there with her. She noticed my expression change and her eyes widened.

"It's nothing too wrong! Just... my stomach and neck hurt a little." I frowned.

"I'm going with you," I said, turning to go change quickly into my clothes.

"No, Edward, don't miss your class. Your team probably definately needs you." She laughed a little and I laughed with her. It _was_ true. "How about, I come back and tell you how it went right after I get out."

I nodded. "I'll hold you to that." She smiled and her eyes seemed to droop. Her breathing came in raspy and heavy, and then she fell forward, into my waiting arms.

"Bella?" I yelled. Maybe speaking loud enough would break her out of it. "Bella?! Can you hear me?!" I could hear other people from the class moving towards me. Then I smelt it. Why hadn't I noticed it before? It was too clear now to my senses.

She was dying.

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A/N: Haha.. so thats the 'bonus' chapter... I really did like it though. I thought it was a good transition don't you think? I wouldn't be here to send it to people quickly anyway. So screw the bonus thing now. ahaha. Only three chapters left! There'll be an update either monday or sunday!**

**review!**


	22. Decisions

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! i know that was a bad way to end the last chapter, but! I am the Queen of Cliffhangers!!! hahah!!**

**This next chapter makes me want to cry real bad. I suggest you all download CANCER by MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, as it is in this chapter. That song is my favoutite right now, and it is so beautiful. I think its very fitting for this part in the story. **

**In the last Chapter when Ben was blocking Edward during soccer it was originally Tyler and then i was like.. wait a second... hes all beat up and sick!! haha.**

**So I replied to some people who asked how Bella is sick, and Now I'm going to list the possibilities here.**

**Bella might have a low immune system, something like HIV/AIDS. Then, once she got sick, it just sort of... was really bad. But thats not it because I dont know how she would've contracted something like that. Although, I have a friend who has a very low immune system anyway, and going to school is bad for her, she misses a lot (going to my school is bad for anyone. we've got asbestos!!)**

**It could be pneumonia, which is fatal, but that isnt hidden for a long time and IS beatable. Also, Menangitis is hidden in flu like symptoms, and also involves neck pains. You see, her neck hurting after the accident isnt from the car, its from her illness. Menangitis IS fatal, recently people have gotten it aroudn here. **

**Leukemia and Lupus (I think) are kidden in flu like symptoms and can do a long time without being detected. They're also fatal. But I really don't knwo what it is. I think for now its safe to just say 'Cancer' but not which one. Leukemia, maybe, but I don't know.**

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Chapter Twenty Two: Decisions**

I sat by her bed, my hands under my chin, staring at her. Just staring at her eyes. I wanted to know the scond they opened and it was possible for me to be here. I would wait years for her if I had to. She was worth it. The short beeping of the heart monitor kept me in the room, kept me from punching out a wall or the next face I saw.

After she had collapsed I ran out of the school without any notice to anyone. Some people in the gym had watched me go, but I ran as fast as I could to my car. She was out cold, no response at all. I put her in the back and strapped her in before racing out of there and down to the hospital. I called Carlisle on the way.

"Hello," he answered.

"Dad," I nearly yelled. I _needed_ him to be my father now, I didn't know what was wrong. "There's something wrong with Bella, I'm bringing her in. She just collapsed, can you be ready for her?"

"Not a problem, just get her in here quickly," I hung up my phone and pushed on the gas as hard as I could. I was at the hospital in no time.

I nearly kicked down the door when I ran up, Bella was secure in my arms. I ran past the front desk and into Carlisle's ward. I could hear his thoughts and knew exactly where to go. When I ran into the room Carlisle and two nurses were waiting. I laid Bella down on the bed and took my first real look at her. Her hair was stuck to her face and she was pale. Not her usual, beautiful pale. It was sickly pale. I shot a look at Carlisle.

"Go and get yout things together, I'll have the school called," he said. "There's nothing you can do now. I'll let you know when anything happens." I nodded and took another look at her before running back out to my car. I didn't want to be away from her anymore than was necessary.

I burst through the doors in the gym and ran as fast as I could in front of the humans down to the coach. I quickly explained to him what had happened and he let me go. I changed out of my gym uniform and back into my ivory sweater and jeans. I ran, vampire speed, to Bella's spanish class and entered without knocking. I went straight to the teacher and told her what happened. When I went to pack up Bella's things Angela gave me a worried look.

"Bella's in the hospital," I whispered so that no one else could hear.

"Can I go see her?" she asked. She looked very worried and upset. I smiled at her to maybe make her feel better but I knew my eyes gave me away.

"Later on today you can, sure." Without another word I left. I was putting her books back into her bag when I noticed my name was written on the side of her excercise book. A habit I had gotten into recently as well.

On my drive back to the hospital I called Bella's house on the off chance that Charlie might be home. He wasn't. I wuickly dialed the police station.

"Is Chief Swan there, please?" I asked as politely as I could.

"I'm sorry, he's busy right now. Is there a message?" The woman was only doing her job but I really had no time for this.

"Tell him it's Edward calling about his daughter. He won't be busy then." I could hear her frustrated sigh and a few voices in the background before Charlie picked up.

"Edward?" he didn't sound too worried yet. "Is something wrong?"

"Bella's in the hospital." the phone was hung up.

Since then I've been sitting here. I haven't left once. Charlie has come and then gone to make phone calls. I wanted so badly for her to wake up. I was begging with her in my head. If only I had paid more attention sooner. The smell had probably been there for a while, the smell of a corpse.

Bella had completely changed now. She only held a fraction of her intoxicating scent and her body looked more weak to me then ever before. _Edward_, I could hear Carlisle's thoughts. _We need you out here, please._ I blew her a kiss and stared at her the entire time out of her room. The desk Carlisle and Charlie were waiting at was just outside Bella's room and next to a small waiting area.

"Do you know anything yet?" I sounded like a stranger to myself. My throat had completely dried up and it cracked when I spoke.

Carlisle looked from Charlie to me nervously. "We can't tell for sure what's wrong with her. It would be any number of things, like.. if she has a low immune system this flu could be ten times worse for her. It could be anything from pneumonia to menangitis to leukemia. It's hard to say right now. But there is one thing I know..." he hesitated. "She isn't going to make it through the night." Charlie let out a loud sob and turned to look into the room at Bella. Then he collapsed against the wall and cried. I clenched my eyes shut and put my hand over them. I felt Carlisle pull me into him and rub my back.

"I'm so sorry, son," he whispered. I broke away from him and went back in to sit next to Bella, to continue staring and waiting. I heard Charlie get up minutes after and call bella's mother. I could hear her pained voice yelling and crying at Charlie.

She can't go. I can't live without her.

* * *

It was later when I heard Carlisle come into the room. Charlie had gone home for a while, school was almost out. Carlisle sat down next to me, his expression stonic.

"Edward, I will not see you this way" he said bossily. I was confused. "There is nothing this hospital can do, but _you_ can." My brow furrowed in confusion. What was he getting at? "Change her." He said it so blntly I wasn't even sure he meant it.

"What?" I asked, checking to be sure.

"Change her, it's the only way you can save her. that's the only option I can give you; watch her die, or change her." Without another word he got up and left. There was an empty feeling in my stomach. He hadn't left me with any good option.

I looked over at her face, _the most beautiful face_ I'd ever seen. What if I could never see that face again after today..?

_Turn away, if you could get me a drink of water_

_'Cause my lips are chapped and faded. _

_Call my Aunt Marie, help her gather all my things _

_And bury me in all my favourite colours..._

Bella. She was the only person I ever met that I have ever loved, and I loved her with all my heart. She was the sun that lit up my day, I was nothing without her. To have her as a vampire...

_My sisters and my brothers still,_

_I will not kiss you..._

_'Cause the hardest part of this is _

_Leaving you._

Bella, a vampire... The idea sparked many things in my mind. One, she wouldn't have that mouth-watering blood in her veins anymore, a prospect that would benefit both her health and mine. We would be able to touch and kiss without any worries of my going out of control. She would so much less fragile to me then.

And, she would be so much stronger. She wouldn't flal down anymore. I wouldn't have to help her run, we could be _equals_. I was getting excited at the thought of it. To be able to spend each and every day with her, and not worry about causing her any harm would be a miracle. To have her for all eternity would be a blessing.

But then I would be damning her completely. Would it be better for me to let her die like she was supposed to, or condemn her to a life sustained on bloodlust and killing? I think mostly I was being selfish. Wanting her to be with me _forever_ was a big commitment. I'd just be killing her and not even knowing what she wants. What do I do? I can't live in a world without her.. but I don't want to damn her to my world either. I put my head in my hands and began to cry.

"Edward?" I heard her tiny voice call. My head shot up and I was staring into her eyes. "What's wrong?" My lip was quivering despite the lack of tears. I knelt down next to her bed.

"Bella..." my voice croaked. I sounded so pathetic. "Why..."

"Edward?" It sounded hard for her to talk. "Am I dying?" It took me off guard. I didn't trust my voice so I just nodded. I knew she could see the sadness in my expression. "Oh..." I choked in a breath and looked up to her. She was looking at the ceiling, tears in her eyes.

_Now turn away, 'cause I'm awful just to see_

_'Cause all my hair's abandoned all my body, oh my agony._

_Know that I will never marry, baby I'm just soggy from the chemo_

_While countin' down the days to go... It's just eleven, and I just hope you know..._

"Bella?" she loked to me and smiled. "Carlisle said there's nothing they can do for you. Except... change you." She seemed confused. "Make you... like us." She looked a little more surpisred. "Would you want that? Would you want to be with us, forever?"

"I love you," she whispered. "So much. I would love to be with you, but you can decide." Her speech was becoming harder for her. She was falling back asleep. "I could understnad why you wouldn't want to change me."

I fell backwards, crashing against the cair, letting the dry sobs escapse. There wouldn't be any choice now. I couldn't let her die. I needed her, wanted her. No matter how much pain we went through now, there would be a life time, infinite happiness to come. This pain would seem insignificant in a few years, months even.

_That if you say 'Goodbye' today_

_I'd ask you to be true._

_'Cause the hardest part of this is_

_Leaving you..._

"Edward..." I heard my sister's voice call. Alice opened the door and came in. "Edward, what are you waiting for?"

"Alice, I can't kill her... It's too hard."

"Edward! If you don't, she'll die anyway, and then she'll be gone for everyone!" She was getting closer and closer to me. I pushed myself up off the floor to look down at her angrily.

"Alice, it's because of me she's dying anyway. If I hadn't have let her come out in the snow she wouldn't have gotten this sick, she wouldn't be in this situation!" Alice was glaring at me angrily. I could see her hand flexing. She was trying to keep from slapping me.

"If it wasn't for you she'd be dead twice over." Her voice was laced with fury. "If you hadn't helped her in the snow she would've been more sick and have died already. If you weren't here, she'd be a bloody smear on that parking lot right now so DON'T tell me it is all your fault!" She was breathing in heavily, her face distorted with rage. "I knew this..." she mumbled. Something snapped into place.

"You saw this, didn't you." Her anger melted and she avoided my eyes. "Alice!" I couldn't help but scream at her. Before I realized it I had picked her up by the collar of her shirt. Her feet weren't touching the ground.

"I did, okay? But how was I supposed to know it would happen like this? All I saw was Bella as a vampire. I didn't know it would happen like _this._" I set her back down. She glared at me again. "Edward, you know I love you, but I love Bella too; we all do. Don't take her away from us, don't deprive her of her only chance. She loves you and would give _anything_ to be with you. If you don't change her, then I will. You can't just let her die! You need her too. If she's not here, then you'll go mad." She put up a good arguement. "If she isn't starting the change in one hour, then me or Carlisle are starting it for you."

Then I was alone. Nothing but Bella's barsh breathing and the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. I was alone with my true love, and a decision that was ripping me apart.

_'Cause the hardest part of this is_

_Leaving you._

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A/N: Isn't that sad? I particularly like Alice in this bit. I think I did a good job of writing her a displaying how dumb Edward was being through her. Also, Edward over-analyses everything, so I think I wrote him pretty good too! ISNT THAT A GOOD SONG! It's not amazingly long, so you could read it during the story and not be tired of lyrics. and its so sad!!! ugh. The next chaper should be different. It will probably be up tomorrow!**

**BTW, i have the stry finished! Theres only two chapters left, and thats all! And, I'm too happy about the ending to be sad about this chapter right now:3**

**Review!**


	23. More Than Ever

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and here it is for those who wanted faster updates! Really, you guys need to leave a litttle time for it to settle in!**

**This chapter is fairly short since I never had much to say in it. I just REALLY wanted to write a chapter beginning the way this one did. And then once I did that I had to make up a lot of stuff for it:S Anyway.**

**This marks the second last chapter, and the last chapter in Edward's pov. I have a sequel in mind, almost all planned out. I know somethings that are going to happen. But ill probably need to make an outline for it, lest I forget. This story, I had NO CLUE what was going to happen at the start, I just kept making it up as I went. I KNEW she was going to leave, I had those chapters with For No One all planned out. But then I had to make up junk, and started having dreams of this part in the story. Edward playing soccer was inspired by three boys in my gym class (who were nutsly athletic.) and then everything fell into place :3**

**I've got two stories in mind, and I may attempt posting one at the same time as the sequel (HAHAHAH.. That should be interesting.) But I REALLY want to write those stories, and this sequel... so yeah. I hope you enjoy this, second last chapter. 24 seems long for an entire story on for me. I usually get thrown off at twenty. Too long to read in one sitting. But I guess, six chapters in the middle there are pretty short. hahaha.**

**(The part directly after the bar made me cryyyy)**

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Chapter Twenty Three: More Than Ever**

She was moved to the mental ward because of all the screaming. All I did was stand and watch as Carlisle quickly wheeled her bed away. Her blood had tasted so good, better than I had expected. It was hard for me to stop, but I had to. I sent my venom into her easily. My eyes met hers as she was leaving and for one moment she stopped screaming. She tried a smile but the pain was too great in her.

An hour later Carlisle allowed me to go up and see her. Her screams had stopped as her throat was raw. She was moaning and crying, squirming in her bed. WHen I held her hand it was warm, but felt warm because my skin didn't feel so cold against hers. She was already losing heat. Her skin was pale, but not the beautiful white of a vampire.

When I touched her she jumped and turned to look at me. "Edward," she groanded. "It hurts so much..." I nodded and kissed her cheek.

"It will be alright soon. Just a few more days." Carlisle and I were expecing her transformation to be fairly quick. I had injected a lot of venom in her system and left most of the blood. Carlisle had bitten her in a few places, to help distribute the venom. Bella groaned again and rolled over, turning away from me.

"I keep trying to sleep, but I can't. It's like I was thrown into a fire." I tried to smile, even if she couldn't see. It was more for my benefit.

"It will be like that, for a while. But, there is going to be more time without the pain than there is with it." She turned back to me and attempted a smile but her mouth was clenched so tight against the pain it didn't work.

"I love you Bella," I tried. "I love you so much, you don't even know." Her face softened then and she smiled for real.

"I think I have an idea," she whispered, grinning more and more. "If it's alright for me to say, I think you're the only person I'm ever ment to be with." I smiled and nodded. What a way to make me feel warm inside.

"I agree."

"I love you, Edward. I love you so much." I leaned in and kissed her quickly before she tensed up again to the pain.

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When the heart monitor flatlined you could hear Renée's screeching crying throughout the entire hospital. Charlie's broken weeping was strange, you wouldn't expect the sound from a man like him. It was the sobbing of a pathetic man who'd lost the only thing left that was important in his life.

Bella did a good job of playing dead. Once her heart stopped she just lay there and held her breath. I was there when it happened and when she heard Renée and Charlie screaming it seemed to be harder for her.

Carlisle said the hospital would take care of the arrangements for her funeral. It was an easy way of not having to explain why there wasn't a corpse in the coffin.

Once Phil, Renée and Charlie had left Carlisle came into the room with Bella and I. Bella opened her eyes and took in a deep, shuddering breath. She sat up in the bed and then stepped out. It was already evident how beautiful she was. The paleness in her skin had changed from the sick, dying pale into an unearthly beautiful pale. Her hair held tinges of red and she walked towards me with all the grace of a princess. Even underneath the hideous hospital gown I could see how shapely her figure was. Her full lips were now a dark red, as were her eyes.

"Edward?" Her voice was different, smoother, but still beautiful. "H-how do I look?" She smiled awkwardly. Her teeth were perfect and bright.

"Gorgeous," I whispered. She jumped into my arms and we kissed. This time when she parted her mouth, I didn't hold back. Carlisle had to clear his throat very loudly in order to get us to stop. We looked up at him sheepishly. I was embarrased he had to watch our first unguarded kiss. Bella still smelt wonderful, but the need to drink her blood was no longer there.

"Bella, how are you feeling right now?" Carlisle asked her. She shrugged and sat back down on the bed.

"I feel alright. Kind of thirsty though..." I chuckled at that. She was bound to be voraciously thirsty. As a newborn she would be more vicious than the rest of us.

"Can you smell anything? Anything you'd want to eat?" Bella shook her head.

"I can smell the human blood, if that's what you're getting at," she told him simply. "It still smells the same as when I was human, only I don't want to be sick."

Carlisle huffed. It dawned on me too what he had just realized. "Your power. You do not want to drink human blood."

_You're one lucky girl,_ I thought, taking a step toward her.

"How come I heard you talking, but your lips weren't moving?"

I stopped dead, halfway towards holding her. _Can you hear this?_ I thought. She nodded her head at me slowly.

"So what, I can read minds now too?" I shrugged I wasn't sure.

"Did you hear what I just thought, Bella?" Carlisle asked. She shook her head.

_And me?_ I thought. She pointed a finger at me in a flash.

"_That_ I heard," she said. I grinned. This should be intersting. Now _I'd _have to learn to block my mind.

"This is exciting!" Bella said. I looked at her and smiled.

"It Definately is." She looked at me confusedly.

"I never said anything." Carlisle looked back and forth between the two of us.

_I can read your thoughts. _

I... guess you can!

"Carlisle! I can read her thoughts!" His eyes widened.

"I guess her reading your mind is a sort of gift from you, and vice versa." Bella then noticed clothes that ALice had left for her on the bed. She began pulling on the underwear underneath the hospital gown.

"How are we going to get her out?" I asked.

"Alice left her a big sweater with a hood. Renée and Charlie aren't here, so it shouldn't be a problem." I nodded and turned backaround. Bella was just pulling a shirt over her head. She picked up the sweater, quickly pulling up the hood.

_Are you ready?_ I asked her.

She grinned. _More than you'll ever know._

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A/N: Yayyyy! Vampire Bella! With better reason than: Just bite me! So how will this story come to an end? Well... there is a letter, and it makes me cry. But its so happy! at the end.. that is... I will be starting a sequel and shall post a summary for it in my profile tout suite!! Along with two more summaries that I want to attempt writing at the same time as the sequel. So let me know what you think, and review please!!!****

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Beta note: this is clarified with the author so dont kill me. this is the second to last chapter as you all are very aware of. try and guess what you think will happen in the next chapter XD (this is Mountain Lions taste good for any who are remotely interested...)**

**till the next chapter**

**review!!**


	24. The End

**A/N: HOLY THREE HUNDRED REVIEWS BATMAN!!! You guys are AWESOME. I love you all!!!! hugs all around**

**I want to thank everyone for sticking with me right to the end, for always supporting me and keeping with the sotry, AND actually understanding it. THAT meant a lot in itself. A few reviewers I want to thank are: Mountain Lions taste good, FallenAngel5439, masochistic addiction, ridiculouskopec, Alexandra Stone, beautifulinblack, Twilight Chick, kaypgirl, emotional-dreamer, CrimsonScarz, shobbs, Asquared91, and ALittleTooAddicted. You guys were some of my first reviewers and the reviewers who ALWAYS reviewed, and I love you for it. There are so many more of you and I'm sorry If I left you out. I LOVE YOUUU!!!**

**Hahahhaa. I feel weird writing all of that. **

**Hey! Go download Golden Slumbers by The Beatles, as most of it (excluding the first two lines) is right at the end!**

**This is the very last Chapter of Just the Summer... awww... I'm really glad with the response I got with this one. And, I hope you like my next few stories. (DARE I SAY THERES MORE PLOTLINE?????:O!!!! how scandalous.) So go ahead and read! See how she ends!!**

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Chapter Twenty Four: The End**

Looking down at my own funeral from above the cemetary seemed ironic somehow. I expected to be in the coffin down there. Instead there were mere rocks to weigh it down. Carlisle had done a good job of hiding my body from everyone. Especially when my body was still moving around.

Standing on the hill with Edward was bringing a small kind of sadness to me. I never expected to feel so bad about losing my family. I was already forgetting most of my earlier memories. But, seeing Renée, Charlie and Phil down in the procession of black, I felt guilty. I was leaving them to believe that I was dead, while I was really partially alive. At my funeral, almost the entire town was there. After my casket was laid in the cold ground, everyone had left, except for my parents. Only Charlie and Renée were left. Once everyone was out of sight, I could hear Renée's pained sob as she collapsed into Charlie's arms.

There was a strange lump in my throat. One I remembered from the sensation of crying. I turned to look at Edward in his black attire. Both of us were dressed for a funeral, as a goodbye to my previous life. I put my arms around his chest and he held me tightly.

"I love you," he whispered. I smiled and kissed his neck. He shuddered. Now I had a more noticable effect on him, like he always did on me.

We drove back to my house so that I could pick up a few things while Charlie was out. Things he wouldn't notice so much like clothes Alice and Rosalie had bought me, and a certain Christmas present. I walked through the house slowly, saying goodbye to my home. I walked into the kitchen, there were dishes still in the sink. I placed a letter on the table, one Edward didn't even know I had. Just as I placed it there I heard Charlie entering. I raced up the stairs and out my bedroom window. Outside the house I could hear his choking sobs as he read my letter to him.

_Daddy,_

_I love you so much. I know this is probably a little late to send this to you, but I have to. I want you to know that living with you was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I want you to know that whatever happens, wherever you go, I will always love you, and I will always be there for you._

_Please don't feel guilty or sad because I am so young. Be glad for me, because I am happy now, and I am not afraid._

_I want you to know that this isn't the end. That, throught the good and the bad times I will always love you and remember you. No matter what._

_Love, Bella._

_xo_

I stood next to the open door of Edward's car and stared at the window. Edward said nothing and waited for me in the car. I listened to Charlie's sobs but I could hear a lighter tone to them, almost as if he were smiling. Then, his figure appeared at the window and he pulled back the curtains. Our eyes met in that instant and we both took in a sharp breath.

I smiled at him, his expressions turned blank. As I climbed into Edward's car I blew him a kiss and wiggled my fingers towards him. We drove away quickly and I turned back to my home. Charlie was in the window, smiling contentedly, holding his heart. It made me feel good to know that the closure I'd given him hadn't left him on a sad note.

Back at the Cullens' mansion everyone was finishing packing up their things. We were moving away so that I could get a new start on my vampire life. The Cullens' reason was to 'ease Edward's grief' after losing me.

We both climbed out of the car to wait for the others. Edward and I met in front of the car and he quickly pulled me into a hug.

"It's going to be okay now, you know that, right?" Edward whispered into my ear.

"I know. I'll be fine just as long as I have you." We pulled back to look at each other. Edward smiled at me warmly, causing me to involuntarily grin back. Stupid inertia. Everytime he did something I reacted without realizing it. If he was doing this to me then I had to do something too. I tried to listen to his mind.

_She's so beautiful,_ was all he was thinking. I grinned at him and gave him a quick kiss.

"I think you're pretty too!" I said happily. Edward grinned sheepishly. "I'm still going to have to get used to that, aren't I?" I smiled and nodded, taking his hand and turning back to the house. Rosalie and Emmett were busily packing the rest of her car. Alice and Jasper were having a quick snog session that aprubtly ended as soon as Carlisle and Esme came out of the house. I watched as Esme locked the door behind her. She took Carlisle's hand and walked down the stairs. When she looked up to me she smiled and winked. They climbed into their car and began to drive away, Alice and Jasper close behind them. Rosalie and Emmett were still fighting over the packing. I turned around and came face to face with Edward again.

He took my hands and kissed my cheek, a sweet and short gesture.

"So are you going to marry me now, or what? Because if you don't I, _will_ go crazy. I won't have it any other way." I knew he could tell what my answer was, I was grinning madly.

"Well, since you put it that way... I guess so." We both laughed and I jumped onto him, throwing my arms around his neck. We heard clapping behind us. Rosalie and Emmett were staring, eyes wide, applauding our little display. Emmett threw over a thumbs up, and Rosalie winked at me. When we got into the car I noticed that he had slipped a ring onto my finger. It was a silver band with a diamond in the center, two tiny topaz's on either side. My favourite gemstone.

He took my hand as we drove out in front of Rose and Emmett. I heard my lullaby playing out over the speakers. It was my farewell to Forks, the place that had given me my life.

_Sleep pretty darling do not cry,  
And I will sing a lullaby.  
Golden Slumbers fill your eyes,  
Smiles awake you when you rise.  
Sleep pretty darling do not cry,  
And I will sing a lullaby. _

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**A/N: Thank you all for reading! I hope you are as pleased with the ending as much as I am. My writing in these last few chapters has impressed me and made me want to write more. (Time lapse three years into the future, hello this is Annilaia from 2009! As you may or may not know there were two sequels to Just the Summer, I took down the first, so if you'd like you can check out Casualties, now the only sequel to Just the summer! I'll let you get back to 2006 Annilaia now :D)**

**Annilaia.**


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